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TRAFFORD PLAYING PITCH STRATEGY STRATEGY & ACTION PLAN JUNE 2017

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TRAFFORD PLAYING PITCH STRATEGY STRATEGY & ACTION PLAN

June 2017 Strategy: Knight Kavanagh & Page 1

CONTENTS PART 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 2 PART 2: VISION ................................................................................................................. 13 PART 3: AIMS..................................................................................................................... 14 PART 4: SPORT SPECIFIC ISSUES SCENARIOS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............. 15 PART 5: STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................... 38 PART 6: ACTION PLAN ...................................................................................................... 51 PART 7: HOUSING GROWTH SCENARIOS ...................................................................... 90 PART 8: DELIVER THE STRATEGY AND KEEP IT ROBUST AND UP TO DATE ............. 95 APPENDIX ONE: INCREASING FOOTBALL USE OF 3G PITCHES .................................. 99 APPENDIX TWO: STRATEGIC CONTEXT ...................................................................... 104 APPENDIX THREE: FUNDING PLAN .............................................................................. 111 APPENDIX FOUR: GLOSSARY ....................................................................................... 115



PART 1: INTRODUCTION This is the Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) for Trafford Borough Council (TBC). Building upon the preceding Assessment Report it provides a clear, strategic framework for the maintenance and improvement of existing outdoor sports pitches and ancillary facilities between 2017 and 2026. A Steering Group has led and will continue to lead the PPS to ensure the delivery and implementation of its recommendations and actions. It is made up of representatives from the Council, Trafford Leisure, Sport England, Greater Sport, pitch sport National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs), namely the Football Association (FA), Cheshire County Football Association (CFA), Manchester County Football Association (MFA), England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Cheshire Cricket Board (CCB), Lancashire County Cricket Board (LCCB), the Rugby Football League (RFL), the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and England Hockey (EH), English Lacrosse, and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). Pitch sports were assessed using the guidance set out in Sport England’s Playing Pitch Strategy Guidance: An approach to developing and delivering a playing pitch strategy. The PPS covers the following playing pitches and outdoor sports facilities: Playing pitches: Football pitches Cricket pitches Rugby league pitches Rugby union pitches Artificial grass pitches (AGPs) - sand/water based and 3G surfaces Third generation turf pitches (3G pitches) Lacrosse pitches Gaelic football pitches Outdoor sports facilities were assessed using Sport England’s Assessing Needs and Opportunities Guidance (2014). These require a different methodology to assess demand and supply to that used for playing pitch sports included within the PPS Guidance. Outdoor sports: Outdoor bowling greens Outdoor tennis courts Athletics tracks A Playing Pitch Strategy will provide the evidence required to help protect playing fields to ensure sufficient land is available to meet existing and projected future pitch requirements. Planning Policy and other relevant sport related corporate strategies must be based upon a robust evidence base in order to ensure planning, local policies and sport development criteria can be implemented efficiently and effectively. The strategy is capable of the following in Trafford: Providing a clear framework for all playing pitch providers, including the public, private

and third sectors; Clearly addressing the needs of all identified sports within the local area, picking up

particular local demand issues; Addressing issues of population growth, and or major growth/regeneration areas; Addressing issues of cross boundary facility provision;



Addressing issues of accessibility, quality and management with regard to facility provision;

Standing up to scrutiny at a public inquiry as a robust study; Providing realistic aspirations which are implementable within the local authority’s

budgetary position and procurement regime. The partner organisations have a vested interest in ensuring existing playing fields, pitches and ancillary facilities can be protected and enhanced. Many of the objectives and actions will need to be delivered and implemented by sports organisations and education establishments in addition to the Council. Strategy structure The Strategy has been developed from research and analysis of playing pitch provision and usage within Trafford to provide: A vision for the future improvement and prioritisation of outdoor sports facilities. A series of strategic recommendations which provide a strategic framework for the

improvement, maintenance, development and, as appropriate, rationalisation of provision.

A series of sport by sport recommendations which provide a strategic framework for sport-led improvements to provision.

A prioritised area-by-area action plan to address key issues. The Strategy and Action Plan recommends a number of priority projects for Manchester which should be implemented over the next ten years. It provides a framework for improvement and, although resources may not currently be in place to implement it, potential partners and possible sources of external funding (see Appendix Four: Funding Plan1). Monitoring and updating It is important that there is regular annual monitoring and review against the actions identified in the Strategy. This monitoring should be led by the Council and supported by the Steering Group. As a guide, if no review and subsequent update has been carried out within three years of the PPS being signed off by the Steering Group, then Sport England and the NGBs would consider the PPS and the information on which it is based to be out of date. If the PPS is used as a ‘live’ document, and kept up to date, the time frame can be extended to five years. The PPS should be reviewed on an annual basis from the date it is formally signed off by the Steering Group. This will help to maintain the momentum and commitment that would have been built up when developing the PPS. Taking into account the time to develop the PPS this should also help to ensure that the original supply and demand information is no more than two years old without being reviewed. Part 8 of this strategy report contains a suggested process for carrying out the update and monitoring. The Steering Group will need to agree the process prior to adoption of this strategy.

1 Please note that Sport England funding streams will be subject to change throughout 2016/17.



Study area Forming part of Greater Manchester, Trafford includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston. The metropolitan boroughs of the City of Salford and the City of Manchester border Trafford to the north and east respectively; Cheshire East lies to the south. The Borough has been split into four distinct areas for the purpose of this study, with the site by site action plans also provided broken down into these analysis areas. They are: North (Old Trafford and Stretford) Central: (Sale) West: (Urmston and Partington) South: (Altrincham) The analysis areas fit in-line with the Council’s locality working. The study analysis area is also aligned with other public sector partners and illustrated in Figure 1.1. Whilst the analysis areas should be used for the basis of reporting, the strategy also addresses the sport specific geography of Trafford. Many sports and leagues cross these boundaries and pitch facilities in one area may also be suitable for clubs in another area. This cross-boundary movement has therefore been taken into consideration when producing this strategy. Population growth The current resident population in Trafford is 233,2882. By 2026 (in line with the Trafford Local Plan) the Borough’s population is projected to increase to 255,0793 an increase of 21,791 (or equivalent to a percentage increase of 9%) according to ONS data. Team generation rates were used to provide an indication of how many people it may take to generate a team (by gender and age group), in order to help estimate the change in demand for pitch sports that may arise from any population change in the study area and are set out in the Assessment Report. Housing growth The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is proposing 227,000 new homes between 2015-2035, with 23,100 (approximately 10%) of those proposed to be within Trafford. This represents an average annual requirement of 1,155 dwellings. This Strategy includes a range of Housing Growth Scenario’s based on the Core Strategy and GMSF housing requirements that estimates the amount of additional demand for pitch sports generated by the new housing developments.

2Source: ONS Mid-2013 Population Estimates for Lower Layer Super Output Areas in England and Wales by

Single Year of Age and Sex and ONS 2012-based projections 2012-2032. Released: 29 May 2014 3 Source: ONS 2012-based projections 2012-2037. Released: 29 May 2014



Figure 1.1: Analysis area map



Table 1.1: Breakdown of playing pitches across Trafford

Sport Pitch type Local authority/Trust

Education Sports Club/

Community organisation

Private/

other

Football Adult 56 16 19 2

Youth 11v11

18 5 2 -

Youth 9v9 24 17 7 1

Mini 7v7 25 22 1 -

Mini 5v5 6 4 5 -

Cricket Natural turf 2 3 14

Non-turf - 9 3 -

Rugby union Senior 4 9 18 2

Junior - - 1 -

Mini - 2 - -

Rugby League Senior - 2 - -

Primary - 1 - -

3G AGP Full sized - 5 1 -

Small sized

6 2 2 18

Sand based AGP

Full sized - 5 4 -

Small sized

Bowling Crown 26 - 10 13

Tennis 39 47 85 6

Lacrosse Senior - - 6 -

Gaelic sports 2 - 1 -

Athletics 3 - - -

Context The primary purpose of the Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) is to provide a strategic framework which ensures that the provision of outdoor playing pitches meet the local needs of existing and future residents across Trafford. The Strategy is produced in accordance with Sport England Playing Pitch Strategy Guidance (October 2013 as updated in March 2014) and the National Planning Policy Framework and provides robust and objective justification for future playing pitch provision throughout the City. One of the core planning principles of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is to improve health, social and cultural wellbeing for all, and deliver sufficient community and cultural facilities and services to meet local needs. Section 8 of the NPPF deals specifically with the topic of healthy communities. Paragraph 73 discusses the importance of access to high quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and recreation that can make an important contribution to the health and well-being of communities. The Trafford Local Plan needs to be based upon a robust evidence base. Paragraph 73 of the NPPF requires “planning policies to be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of needs. Information gained from the assessments should be used to determine what open space, sports and recreational provision is required.” Paragraph 74 of the NPPF require



assessments to be used to inform the protection of “existing open space, sports and recreational buildings and land, including playing fields.” Planning Policy and other relevant sport related corporate strategies must be based upon a robust evidence base in order to ensure planning and sports development policy can be implemented efficiently and effectively. A Playing Pitch Strategy will complement the objectives and action plan associated with other corporate strategies: Corporate and strategic:

It ensures a strategic approach to playing pitch provision. The PPS will act as a tool for Trafford Borough Council and partner organisations to guide resource allocation and set priorities for pitch sports in the future.

Planning:

The Playing Pitch Strategy will provide an evidence base to support the Trafford Local Plan as well as information to guide decisions regarding outdoor sports provision as part of residential developments

It will inform Local Plan policies on open space and recreation, green infrastructure and leisure, identifying current levels of provision and future requirements across Trafford.

It provides robust evidence for Council capital funding applications and bids to outside organisations, including Sport England, Heritage Lottery Fund (for park improvements), Football Foundation and Big Lottery.

It will provide evidence of deficiencies or shortfalls in provision to be addressed via on or off-site provision as part of major developments, whilst also providing information for inclusion in the Council’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan as part of future Trafford Local Plan related work.

It will highlight local priorities to be considered in the allocation of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts or receipts from any other future system of developer contributions.

Operational:

It can help improve management of assets management, which should result in more efficient use of resources and reduced overheads.

The Action Plan will identify sites where quality of provision can be enhanced. An assessment of all pitches (in use and lapsed) will be undertaken to understand how

pitches are used and whether the current maintenance and management regimes are appropriate or require change.

Sports development:

It helps identify which sites have community use and whether that use is secure or not. It helps identify where community use of school sports pitches is most needed to

address any identified deficits in pitch provision. It provides better information to residents and other users of sports pitches available for

use. This includes information about both pitches and sports teams / user groups. It promotes sports development and can help unlock latent demand by identifying where

the lack of facilities might be suppressing the formation of teams / community needs.



Headline findings

Sport Analysis area Current picture Future picture (2026)4

Football (grass pitches)

North Shortfall of two youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of 4.5 youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of two mini 5v5 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Central Demand is presently met. Shortfall of 5.5 youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.


South Shortfall of four youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of one youth 9v9 match session per week.

Shortfall of two adult match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of ten youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.


Shortfall of three mini 7v7 match equivalent sessions per week per week.


West Shortfall of 3.5 youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of 2.5 adult match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of seven youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of one youth 9v9 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of five mini 5v5 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

4 Future demand based on ONS calculations and club consultation which also includes latent and displaced

demand identified.




Football (3G pitches)

6

North Affiliated team training demand is presently met.

Affiliated team training demand is able to be met.

Central Shortfall of two full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use to accommodate affiliated team training demand.

Shortfall of two full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use to accommodate affiliated team training demand.

South Shortfall of two full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use to accommodate affiliated team training demand.


West Shortfall of three full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use to accommodate affiliated team training demand.

Shortfall of three full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use to accommodate affiliated team training demand.

Rugby union North Demand is presently met. Demand is able to be met.

Central Shortfall of 3.75 senior match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of 5.5 senior match equivalent sessions per week per week.

South Shortfall of 10.25 senior match equivalent sessions per week per week.


West Shortfall of 0.5 senior match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of three senior match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Rugby league Borough wide Total shortfall of 0.5 senior match equivalent sessions per week per week at peak time.

Total shortfall of 0.5 senior match equivalent sessions per week per week at peak time.

Cricket North

Demand is presently met. Demand is able to be met.

Central


South Demand is presently met. Demand is able to be met.

West Demand is presently met. Shortfall of 10 matches per season.


demand identified. 6 Based on accommodating 42 teams to one full size pitch for training.




Hockey (Sand/water AGPs)

North No current club demand in the Area.

No anticipated club demand in the Area.

Central Shortfall of at least one full sized floodlit AGP available for community use in the Central Area to re-accommodate Sale HC in the Borough.

Shortfall of at least one full sized floodlit AGP available for community use in the Central Area to re-accommodate Sale HC in the Borough.

Potential shortfall could rise to two pitches should increases in participation be realised as increased peak time demand.

South Demand for access to additional capacity for training use.

Demand for access to additional capacity for training use.

West Demand for access to additional capacity for training use.


Lacrosse Borough wide Demand is presently met. Demand is able to be met.

Gaelic sports Borough wide Demand is presently met. Demand is able to be met.

Bowling Borough wide Demand is presently met. Demand is able to be met.

Tennis Borough wide Demand is presently met quantitively, however there is a key need to increase floodlit provision at public and education sites.

Demand is able to be met quantitively, however there is a key need to increase floodlit provision at public and education sites.

Athletics Trafford Demand is able to be met subject to required qualitative improvements.

Demand is able to be met subject to required qualitative improvements.

Conclusions The existing position for all pitch sports is either demand is being met or there is a

shortfall. The future position shows exacerbation of current shortfalls. In addition, some sports and some areas where demand is currently being met are likely to experience shortfalls in the future.

As such, there is a need to protect all existing playing pitch provision until demand is met.

In the main shortfalls expressed can be met by improving pitch quality but in some instances this may also require access to existing unused pitches such as at school sites.

Further to this both current and future demand is being met for non-pitch sports albeit that is not to say that there is a surplus of provision as explored further in the Strategy.


demand identified.



The PPS does not identify an oversupply of playing field land and as such existing playing field land must be protected. As there is no oversupply, any proposed loss of playing field land would need to be mitigated through reprovision in full, in accordance to Sport England Policy Exception 4 (E4). 1.5 Definitions Match equivalent sessions Pitches have a limit of how much play they can accommodate over a certain period of time before their quality, and in turn their use, is adversely affected. As the main usage of pitches is likely to be for matches, it is appropriate for the comparable unit to be match equivalent sessions but may for example include training sessions. Based on how they tend to be played this unit for football, Rugby union and rugby league pitches relate to a typical week within the season for each sport. For cricket pitches it is appropriate to look at the number of match equivalent sessions over the course of a season. Pitch capacity The capacity for pitches to regularly provide for competitive play, training and other activity over a season is most often determined by quality. As a minimum, the quality and therefore the capacity of a pitch affects the playing experience and people’s enjoyment of playing football. In extreme circumstances it can result in the inability of the pitch to cater for all or certain types of play during peak and off peak times. Pitch quality is often influenced by weather conditions and drainage. As a guide, each NGB has set a standard number of matches that each grass pitch type should be able to accommodate without adversely affecting its current quality (pitch capacity):

Sport Pitch type No. of matches per week

Good quality Standard quality

Poor quality

Football Adult pitches 3 2 1

Youth pitches 4 2 1

Mini pitches 6 4 2

Rugby league

Senior 3 per week 2 per week 1 per week

Cricket One grass wicket 5 per season N/A N/A

One synthetic wicket 60 per season N/A N/A

Rugby union pitches Maintenance rating

Poor (M0) Adequate (M1) Good (M2)

Dra

inag

e

rati

ng

Natural Inadequate (D0) Poor Poor Standard

Natural Adequate (D1) Poor Standard Good

Pipe Drained (D2) Standard Standard Good

Pipe and Slit Drained (D3) Standard Good Good



Shortfalls Please note that shortfalls are expressed in match equivalent sessions per week rather than converted to pitches. To convert match equivalent sessions per week into pitches, the number of match equivalent sessions per week should be halved (to take account of teams playing on a home and away basis). For a full Glossary of terms please refer to Appendix Four.



PART 2: VISION Trafford Council’s Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) forms part of the Council’s overall suite of strategies which set out the direction for leisure facilities and services in the Borough. This includes a new Leisure Strategy which focuses on the development of the main leisure centres and sites operated by the Council’s Community Interest Company, Trafford Leisure. A Physical Activity Vision has been developed. It is an ambitious vision to improve health and social outcomes for the residents of Trafford through a strategy of increasing everybody’s level of physical activity. This work is vital because it is known that over one fifth (22.3%) of Trafford adults (aged 16 and over) take part in less than 30 minutes of physical activity each week. The Vision has been developed collaboratively and in conjunction with the Sport & Physical Activity Partnership and Health and Wellbeing Board. It marks the start of a journey which will see Trafford’s partners pledge their support to driving up levels of physical activity in the Borough. The pledges will combine resources and thinking in order to improve physical activity levels at scale and pace with specific focus on groups who have higher levels of inactivity or sedentary behaviour. The Vision also defines the ambition to transform the Borough’s leisure facilities and to maximise the major opportunities presented by devolution in Greater Manchester and public sector reform agendas, particularly in the integration of Health and Social Care. The fundamental ambition is for every resident to become more active because the immeasurable benefits to people’s health and wellbeing are known. It is underpinned by a strategic review of leisure centres to inform investment priorities and this assessment of the rich variety of outdoor leisure and sporting facilities used by 175 sporting clubs and associations that thrive in Trafford. The Playing Pitch Strategy aims to broaden sustainable access to the wide range of sporting and leisure opportunities that exist within Trafford and to bring together these opportunities within a strategic framework that will ensure that every Trafford resident has access to a wider network of sports and leisure facilities that enable them to become more physically active. The Vision creates a framework upon which to build a cohesive case for changing the way that leisure and sport has been traditionally viewed and moves the imperative for it to become a fundamental enabler of improved health and wellbeing outcomes.

“Produce a robust and comprehensive strategy which will provide the essential evidence base for informing decisions on planning and investment in the pursuit to provide

appropriate provision for all.”



PART 3: AIMS The following overarching aims are based on the three Sport England themes (see Figure 1 below). Delivery of the Strategy is the responsibility of and relies on, the Steering Group. It is recommended that the following are adopted by the Council and its partners to enable it to achieve the overall vision of the Playing Pitch Strategy and Sport England’s requirements.

Figure 1: Sport England planning objectives - Protect, Enhance and Provide

Source: Sport England 2015

Aim 1

To protect the existing supply of playing pitches where it is needed for meeting current and future needs

Aim 2

To enhance playing fields, pitches and ancillary facilities through improving quality and management of sites

Aim 3

To provide new playing pitches where there is current or future demand to do so



PART 4: SPORT SPECIFIC ISSUES SCENARIOS AND RECOMMENDATIONS In order to help develop the recommendations/actions and to understand their potential impact a number of relevant scenario questions are tested against the key issues in this section for the playing pitch sports resulting in the sport specific recommendations. Football pitches

Summary – grass The audit identifies a total of 240 grass football pitches in Trafford of which 211 are

reported to be available for community use on some level. There are 20 available pitches which currently have no regular recorded community club use.

There is just one small sized FA certified 3G pitch in Trafford on which competitive football matches can be played.

Most available pitches in Trafford (38%) are adult sized which is, in part, due to youth 11v11 teams playing on adult pitches.

The majority (63%) of pitches available for community use are rated as standard quality, with 27% rated as poor and only 21 pitches as good, equating to just 10%.

Changing facilities are a key issue at several football sites, particularly the cost of gaining access to them.

Most clubs in Trafford that lease home venues are considered to have secure tenure. A total of 466 affiliated teams are identified as playing matches on football pitches within

Trafford. There are 60 teams recorded as consistently playing home matches on 3G pitches.

Team generation rates based on population indicate the likely creation of an additional four adult teams, 39 youth teams and seven mini soccer teams across the Borough.

Many teams highlight a lack of accessible and affordable floodlit training facilities as a key issue. Some export demand to 3G pitches in neighbouring authorities such as Manchester and Salford, whilst others make use of a number of sites, some with small sized AGPs or indoor facilities.

Actual spare capacity in Trafford amounts to 64.5 match equivalent sessions across all pitches types, some of which exists on pitches which are available but currently unused by clubs.

There are 23 pitches overplayed across Trafford, totalling 35 match equivalent sessions per week.

Scenarios – grass Improving pitch quality – improving poor quality pitches with secure tenure (either

through increased maintenance or drainage improvements in order to increase pitch capacity) to standard quality will help to reduce overplay expressed.

All pitch types currently exhibit spare capacity with the exception of youth 11v11 pitches which display a shortfall of nine match equivalent sessions. However,

many teams play on adult pitches and the current shortfall would be greater if they were playing on youth 11v11 pitches in line with FA recommendations.

When considering future demand, current shortfalls on youth 11v11 pitches will be

exacerbated whilst there will also be shortfalls of match equivalent sessions on youth 9v9 and mini 5v5 pitches.



For example, improving the seven presently overplayed pitches across Grove Park, Mersey Valley Sports Club and Turn Moss from poor to standard quality would reduce total overplay across them from nine match equivalent sessions per week to 2.5.

This considered, though overplay at Mersey Valley Sports Club would be eliminated, one match equivalent session would still remain at Grove Park and 1.5 match equivalent sessions would remain at Turn Moss, therefore access to additional capacity beyond qualitative improvement would be required.

However, given the cost of doing such work for all poor and standard quality pitches the continued maintenance required (and associated costs) alternatives need to be considered that can offer a more sustainable model for the future of football. The alternative to grass pitches is the use of certified 3G pitches and the FA supports increased use of 3G pitches for competitive matches, particularly for mini football.

Loss of access at education sites – no clubs have reported security of tenure at education sites through formal agreement. There 28 pitches used across 17 school sites used by clubs, totalling 65 match equivalent sessions per week.

Should all access to pitches currently used at education sites be lost, there would be a need to re-accommodate 16.5 adult match equivalent sessions per week, 2.5 youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week, 17 youth 9v9 match equivalent sessions per week, 22.5 mini 7v7 match equivalent sessions per week and 6.5 mini 5v5 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Loss of access at all sites where tenure is insecure – loss of access to all insecure sites (including aforementioned school sites) would create a requirement to accommodate 108 total match equivalent sessions per week per week at alternate sites. Insufficient capacity presently exists to be able to do so.

Removing low value football pitch provision – there are three Trafford Leisure managed playing field sites with just a single football pitch. They are: Navigation Road Rec Oldfield Brow Recreation Ground Our Lady & English Martyrs Parish Centre

Ceasing to mark single football pitches at these sites (subsequently retained as parks or recreational playing field land) would create a requirement to accommodate 1.5 adult and 0.5 mini 7v7 match equivalent sessions per week at other sites. Should this happen, there is sufficient capacity for both pitch formats to accommodate use elsewhere.

There are three other sites (Halecroft Park, Seymour Park, Stamford Park) with just a solitary football pitch, however all are public parks. They serve a wider function as public open space and loss of pitch provision at these parks would not create opportunities for site disposal due to their role as public and protected open space.

Housing Growth – Using Sport England’s New Development Pitch Calculator the table below indicates the number of pitches (rounded up/down) that would be required ‘If 23,100 new homes are built across Trafford during the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework period to 2035’:

Pitch Sport Estimated demand by sport (2035)

Match equivalent sessions per week Pitches

Adult football 10.1 10 pitches

Youth football 24.72 25 pitches

Mini soccer 20.56 21 pitches

Total 55.38 56 pitches



Using Sport England’s New Development Pitch Calculator the table below indicates the number of pitches (rounded up/down) that would be required ‘If 4,301 new homes are built across Trafford during the next five years to 2020/21’:

Pitch Sport Estimated demand by sport (2020/21)





Total 10.31 11 pitches

3G pitches

Summary There are six full sized 3G pitches in Trafford, all of which have floodlighting with

exception of Sale Grammar School. There are three pitches available for community use with three pitches unavailable.

There are a further 28 small sized 3G pitches, 25 of which are considered to be available for community use.

Recommendations – grass Existing quantity of football pitches to be protected. Any such proposal for

replacement with a 3G pitch must be able to sufficiently evidence meeting Sport England Policy Exception 5 (E5).

Where pitches are overplayed and rated as standard or poor quality, prioritise investment and review maintenance regimes to ensure it is of an appropriate standard to sustain/improve pitch quality.

Utilise the FA Pitch Improvement Programme to ascertain technical assessment of sites with key qualitative issues and establish a programme of works to improve pitch quality.

Look to utilise actual spare capacity expressed on sites in order to cater for existing and future demand. This may require improvements to pitch quality and is explored on a site by site basis within the accompanying action plan.

Consider potential to secure long term tenure for clubs which are considered realistically able to sustain, maintain and manage sporting provision as required.

Determine potential sites which may be suitable to create football (or multi-sport) hubs and establish feasibility to develop hub sites, including new full sized 3G pitches.

Seek to increase use of 3G pitches in order to increase capacity available to address current and future shortfalls and review impact on grass pitches as part of the PPS Annual Review.

Ensure adequate provision for increased demand generated by housing developments, to best cater for newly generated demand and to address shortfalls.

In summary, supply and demand analysis highlights that Trafford has insufficient supply of full sized 3G pitches which are floodlit and are fully available for

community use to accommodate football training demand. Currently there are three full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use representing a

shortfall of seven full size 3G pitches which are floodlit and available for community use.



There is no full sized FA or FIFA certified 3G pitch within Trafford suitable for competitive football play, though there is one compliant pitch at Flixton Girls School which is small sized.

There is one full sized World Rugby certified 3G pitch at St Ambrose College suitable for competitive Rugby union contact play and practice, however it is not available for community use.

Several clubs and schools have aspirations and proposals to develop new 3G pitch provision, including new pitches at Crossford Bridge, The Grammar and Sale Sharks Training Ground.

All three pitches available for community use are rated as standard quality. The pitch at Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College presently meets the

recommended surface lifespan whilst the pitch at Partington Sports Village is approaching the recommended lifespan within the next year. Quality and performance of both should be monitored and replacement considered when required.

Use of 3G pitches is at present mainly for football, though expressions to develop 3G pitches by Sale Rugby FC and Altrincham Kersal RFC infer a desire to use 3G provision in future.

The FA training model estimates that there is a need for ten full sized 3G pitches to service affiliated football training demand in Trafford. At present there are three available for community use, therefore based on this model there is a shortfall of seven pitches Borough wide to service affiliated football training.

There are 60 teams which play competitive club football on 3G pitches in Trafford. All three available pitches are recorded as being used for competitive matches despite not being FA or FIFA certified.

Several clubs displace midweek training demand for 3G pitches to other districts, particularly Manchester. Manchester FA highlights that many Trafford based teams use 3G pitches in South West Manchester especially Manchester Health Academy.

There is also demand for use by Rugby union teams, particularly for training, which highlights a case for additional World Rugby compliant 3G capacity either through new provision or established community use of the existing compliant pitch at St Ambrose College.

Scenarios – 3G pitches8 Accommodating training demand – Based on the FA model in Appendix One, The FA

estimates that there is a need for ten full sized 3G pitches to service all football training needs in Trafford, which equates to a current shortfall of seven pitches.

The model is however based on full sized pitches and in practice small sized 3G pitches as well as retained use of sand based pitches may be able to serve a proportion of training demand.

Moving all mini teams to play on 3G pitches9 – there are currently 63 mini 5v5 teams and 105 mini 7v7 and youth 7v7 teams playing competitive football in Trafford which based on the FA model in Appendix One would require nine full sized 3G pitches (rounded up from 8.53) to accommodate all.

There are presently three full sized 3G pitches available for community use, representing a need for an additional six full sized pitches to accommodate all 5v5 and 7v7 play on Saturday mornings. This is on the basis that both playing formats can be accommodated on one day using staggered kick off times. Furthermore, all pitches including those existing would need to successfully achieve FA certification.

8 Refer to Appendix One: 3G Pitch Scenario for the programming model used.

9 Figures are rounded up to the nearest full size pitch.



Use of 3G pitches to accommodate current and future grass pitch shortfalls – in order to eliminate current grass pitch shortfalls for youth 11v11 pitches exclusively through increased use of 3G pitches, a total of five (rounded up from 4.75) full sized 3G pitches would be required, increasing to up to 14 to accommodate all future shortfalls at all formats (albeit provision of the latter is likely to be unsustainable).

Cricket pitches Summary In total, there are 19 natural turf cricket squares identified in Trafford. There are 15

natural turf cricket squares in Trafford which are available for community use in some capacity and a further four at school sites and elite stadia which are unavailable.

The South Area has the most pitches overall (42%) with the West Area having only two natural turf pitches (11%).

There are 12 NTPs located across ten sites, of which, nine are located at school sites. In total, there are five NTPs available for community use in some capacity, with the seven unavailable all located at school sites.

Pitch quality ratings show nine natural turf squares (47%) to be of good quality and nine (47%) to be of standard quality. There is just one poor quality square (6%) located at St Bride’s Park.

There are currently four LMS leagues in Trafford and matches are played at Trafford Metrovicks RFC.

No affiliated cricket clubs are considered to have unsecured tenure at their home sites. A trend amongst clubs in Trafford is that ancillary facilities need modernisation to

sustain club development. There are 117 affiliated cricket teams playing competitive matches in Trafford made up

of 49 senior cricket teams and 68 junior teams. Future demand projections from TGRs predicts an increase of ten junior boy’s teams,

whilst club future demand projections represent a total requirement for a further 50

Recommendations – 3G pitches Consider strategic options for future development of full sized 3G pitches, including

options for the creation of football hub sites. Ensure that any new full sized 3G pitches built are to the required specifications

(including to FA recommended dimensions to maximise opportunity for use for all formats of football).

Encourage providers to undertake testing and certification for competitive football in order to increase capacity available for use. This includes the three existing full sized pitches which are recorded as being used by 11 teams despite being uncertified.

Encourage providers to have a mechanism in place which ensures the long term sustainability of provision.

Manchester FA and Cheshire FA to carry out consultation with leagues/clubs to gauge acceptance/buy in of moving competitive play to 3G pitches in the future.

Overall across the Borough there is sufficient supply of match equivalent sessions per week per season at peak time for senior cricket, 129 match equivalent

sessions per week, to cater for demand from clubs within Trafford.

With future demand factored in spare capacity reduces to 99 match equivalent sessions per week per season at peak across the Borough, however this can be

accommodated within existing supply.



senior match equivalent sessions per week and 44 junior match equivalent sessions per week.

LCB is actively trying to engage with South Asian Communities in Trafford in order to increase opportunities for participation and development for participants from these communities. These groups generally prefer easily accessible and less formal variations of play and there is a need to explore ways in which to maximise opportunity and participation.

There are a number of midweek leagues playing short format cricket which are predominantly Asian based. Some of these leagues and teams are not affiliated and subsequently demand has not been recorded in the analysis unless where known.

Of those sites with existing community use, there are 12 which show potential spare capacity on senior grass squares in Trafford, totalling 412 match equivalent sessions per week per season. Only three are available at senior peak time (Saturday afternoon) when there are two match equivalent sessions available allowing for a further 164 matches per season between them.

Only the natural turf square at Bowdon Cricket – Hockey & Squash Club is considered to be overplayed by a total of 35 matches per season.

Scenarios Addressing overplay – Bowdon Cricket, Hockey & Squash Club is overplayed by 35

matches per season. This cannot be sustained by existing provision and there is a need for access to additional capacity to reduce the level of overplay.

Junior matches account for 62 (56%) of the 110 matches played on the square. Installation of a non-turf pitch to accommodate some or all of this junior match play would serve to reduce or eliminate overplay onsite.

Alternatively, overplay could be reduced by transfer of junior play to capacity at a secondary site. Both Bowdon Vale Cricket Club and Hale Barns Cricket Club have sufficient capacity per season to accommodate this use.

Improving pitch quality – only St Bride’s Park is rated as poor quality. Improving outfield quality through better and more regular maintenance would bring about improvement for both cricket and football played on the outfield area.

Decreased capacity: Bowdon CC is presently overplayed by 55 matches per season and has an 11 wicket natural turf square. The Club has plans to reduce the total number of wickets it maintains in order to invest greater time and cost into preparation of two wickets to first class standard.

Doing so would reduce capacity onsite by ten matches per season, exacerbating the level of overplay to 65 matches per season. Given the site is already significantly overplayed, reducing capacity is not recommended and in fact there is a requirement to access increased capacity to eliminate overplay.

Utilising spare capacity – should future demand in the South Area be realised as senior teams playing at peak time, there is one match session available at Timperley Cricket, hockey & Lacrosse Club to accommodate these teams.

However, should future demand of one adult team in the West Area be realised as a senior team playing at peak time, there is no capacity available at secured sites at peak time to accommodate this. Only Urmston Grammar Academy has peak time availability but this is not considered to be reliable as tenure is not secured. The site is presently used by Urmston CC, whilst future demand is expressed by Flixton CC which does not have access to the facilities.

Conversely, should this new senior team play on Sundays there is sufficient capacity at Flixton CC to accommodate it, as the Club presently has no Sunday teams.





Match equivalent sessions per season Pitches

Cricket 245.73 per season 5 pitches

Using Sport England’s New Development Pitch Calculator the table below indicates the

number of pitches (rounded up/down) that would be required ‘If 4,301 new homes are built across Trafford during the next five years to 2020/21’:


Match equivalent sessions per season Pitches

Cricket 45.75 1 pitch

Rugby union pitches Summary In total there are 35 Rugby union pitches in Trafford, made up of 30 senior, three junior

and two mini sized pitches. There are 25 pitches available and used by community clubs in some capacity and a further two which are available but unused for club rugby.

There is one full sized World Rugby certified 3G pitch within Trafford suitable for competitive play or full contact rugby training, located at St Ambrose College but this is not currently available for community use.

The North has the fewest pitches with just one, whilst the South Area has the largest proportion of total supply.

Recommendations – cricket Existing quantity of cricket pitches to be protected. Seek to reduce or eliminate overplay at Bowdon Cricket, Hockey & Squash Club

through a combination of increasing capacity onsite (new natural turf or non-turf wickets) and transferring use to another secondary site.

Seek to sustain and improve square quality to ensure quality for performance given high levels of demand at club sites across the Borough. Most notably, seek to improve pitch quality at St Bridge Park which is rated as poor.

Develop participation at non-peak times such as junior and girls cricket midweek and women’s cricket on Sundays.

Support Bowdon CC, Sale CC and Flixton CC to improve pavilion and changing facilities. This includes enhancing quality, whilst also developing provision to meet specifications to facilitate the development of junior and particularly girls participation.

Utilise spare capacity at non-peak times to develop junior and girls cricket midweek and women’s cricket on Sundays.

Ensure sufficient access to training facilities of the required quality.

There are shortfalls of supply to cater for the level of demand expressed in Trafford at present, totalling a need for a further 14.5 match equivalent sessions

per week on senior pitches. This is further exacerbated to create a future requirement for an additional 21 match equivalent sessions per week.



Most of the pitches available for community use are assessed as standard quality (12) whilst eleven are good quality and two are poor quality.

Tenure for all clubs in the area is considered secure. Carrington RUFC plan to relocate to a new site with a longer term lease in place increasing security for the Club.

Floodlit training provision for Carrington RUFC is non-existent, with the Club having a nomadic training location, utilising local sand-based AGPs for some training demand.

Clubs generally train on match pitches and most senior sections train twice weekly. Focused training demand on fully or floodlit pitches is a key contributor to overplay at a number of sites.

Use of 3G pitches for training is limited with few clubs consistently using them, instead preferring to use them during the worst periods of winter weather to protect grass pitch quality.

There are seven Rugby union clubs playing in Trafford, providing a total of 67 teams. There are 18 senior teams, 21 junior’ teams and 27 mini squads. Imported demand from The University of Salford contributes an additional three senior teams, playing midweek at Trafford MV RFCC.

TGRs forecast the likely creation of at least four additional junior boys’ teams and two mini age groups.

Community clubs in Trafford report plans to create an additional five senior men’s teams, with Carrington RUFC also planning on creating mini and junior teams until these sections of the Club are full. Ashton on Mersey RFC report plans to create an additional mini team.

There are a number of ambitions for increased Rugby union provision across Trafford. Scenarios Improving pitch quality – there are poor quality pitches at two club sites; Bowdon

Rugby Union Football Club and Carrington RFC, though there are plans for the latter to relocate to a new site where better quality facilities are to be provided.

Improving the two poor quality pitches at Bowdon Rugby union Football Club from M1/D0 to M2/D0 through increased maintenance would create an additional match equivalent session per week. This would reduce overplay across these two pitches from 1.5 to 0.5, however further drainage improvements to at least D1 would be required to increase capacity to a level by which overplay of these two pitches would be eliminated.



As shown in the table below, improving maintenance from standard (M1) to good (M2) at club owned or leased sites would create additional capacity of eight match equivalent sessions per week. Though improvements to maintenance would eliminate overplay on one pitch at Altrincham Kersal Rugby Football Club, the main and training pitches would remain overplayed. Greater use of capacity available at Beech Avenue Recreation Ground (1.5 match equivalent sessions per week available) and capacity created on the third club pitch could help to reduce levels of overplay, however lack of floodlighting on both prevents a transfer of training demand currently the key causal factor of overplay on the two floodlit pitches. Similarly, qualitative improvements to the maintenance score is not sufficient alone to eliminate overplay on non-floodlit pitches or the floodlit training pitch at Bowdon Rugby union Football Club, despite reductions in the level of overplay. Minimal overplay of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week could however be eliminated through maintenance improvements coupled with greater use of Bowdon Country Club and Spa which Bowdon RUFC already uses.

Site ID Site name Pitch type Quality rating No. of pitches Floodlighting Match equivalent sessions

(per week)

Site capacity

(sessions per week)

Capacity rating

Improved quality Capacity effect

5 Altrincham Kersal Rugby Football Club

Senior Standard

(M1/D1)

1 Yes 4.5 2 2.5 Good

(M2/D1)

1.5

1 Yes 4.5 2 2.5 1.5

1 No 2.5 2 0.5 0.5

10 Beech Avenue Recreation Ground

Senior Standard

(M1/D1)

1 No 0.5 2 1.5 Not a club owned/leased site – however transfer of some use from the club training pitch to make greater use of this pitch would help reduce overplay at the club site.

15 Bowdon Rugby Union Football Club

Senior Good

(M2/D2)

1 No 2.25 3.25 1 No scope to improve the maintenance rating of these pitches to increase capacity, though maintenance in practice should be sustained at least. Good

(M2/D1)

1 No 2.25 3 0.75

Standard

(M1/D0)

2 No 4.5 3 1.5 Good

(M2/D0)

0.5

Junior/

training

Standard

(M1/D1)

1 Yes 8.25 2 6.25 Good

(M2/D1)

5.25

135 Bowdon Country Club and Spa Senior Good

(M2/D1)

1 No 1 3 2 Not a club owned/leased site – however transfer of some use from the non-floodlit club pitches to make greater use of this pitch would help reduce overplay at the club site.

141 Ashton on Mersey Rugby Club Senior Standard

(M1/D1)

1 No 1 2 1 Good

(M2/D1)

2

Senior 1 No 1 2 1 2

Senior 1 No 1 2 1 2



Alternatively, improving both maintenance (where currently below M2) and drainage by one increment would create additional capacity of 14 match equivalent sessions per week, shown in the table below. This would not be sufficient to eliminate overplay at Altrincham Kersal Rugby Football Club where there is scope to improve both maintenance and drainage ratings, though floodlighting of a third pitch to utilise capacity created for training, along with additional use of Beech Avenue Recreation Ground would help to reduce levels of overplay. Altrincham Kersal RFC has also registered willingness to use a potential World Rugby compliant 3G pitch proposed at The Grammar (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys) which would further help to relieve overplay on grass pitches at the club site derived from floodlit training demand. Improvements to maintenance and drainage would eliminate overplay on match pitches at Bowdon Rugby Union Football Club, though the floodlit training would remain significantly overplayed as it accommodates all floodlit training demand throughout the week. Additional floodlighting and improvement of the two poor quality pitches would allow for training demand to be spread across more pitches utilising capacity created, reducing the level of overplay on the existing training pitch, whilst further improvement of drainage by more than one increment from D0 to D2 or even D3 would result in even greater capacity to do so (D2 – two match equivalent sessions per week, D3 – 2.5 match equivalent sessions per week). Overplay would not be eliminated completely, though like Altrincham Kersal RFC, Bowdon RUFC has registered willingness to use a potential World Rugby compliant 3G pitch proposed at The Grammar (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys) which could also help to alleviate overplay onsite. Improving drainage alone at sites where a good quality (M2) maintenance regime is already in place would have limited impact on the level of overplay at sites such as Trafford Metrovicks RFC and Sale Sharks Training Ground. As such, increased floodlighting on or off match pitches or transfer of training to World Rugby compliant 3G pitches supplemented with qualitative pitch improvements represents a more effective solution to overplay at these sites.

Site ID Site name Pitch type Quality rating No. of pitches

Floodlighting Match equivalent sessions

(per week)

Site capacity

(sessions per week)

Capacity rating



Senior Standard

(M1/D1)

1 Yes 4.5 2 2.5 Good

(M2/D2)

1.25

1 Yes 4.5 2 2.5 1.25

1 No 2.5 2 0.5 0.75

10 Beech Avenue Recreation Ground Senior Standard

(M1/D1)

1 No 0.5 2 1.5 Not a club owned/leased site – however transfer of some use from the club training pitch to make greater use of this pitch would help reduce overplay at the club site.


Senior Good

(M2/D2)

1 No 2.25 3.25 1 Good

(M2/D3)

1.25

Good

(M2/D1)

1 No 2.25 3 0.75 Good

(M2/D2)

1

Poor

(M1/D0)

2 No 4.5 3 1.5 Good

(M2/D1)

1.5

Junior/

training

Standard

(M1/D1)

1 Yes 8.25 2 6.25 Good

(M2/D2)

5

135 Bowdon Country Club and Spa Senior Good

(M2/D1)

1 No 1 3 2 Not a club owned/leased site – however transfer of some use from the non-floodlit club pitches to make greater use of this pitch would help reduce overplay at the club site.

141 Ashton on Mersey Rugby Club Senior Standard

(M1/D1)

1 No 1 2 1 Good

(M2/D2)

2.25

Senior 1 No 1 2 1 2.25

Senior 1 No 1 2 1 2.25



Site ID Site name Pitch type Quality rating No. of pitches Floodlighting Match equivalent sessions

(per week)

Site capacity

(sessions per week)

Capacity rating


112 Trafford Metrovicks RFC Senior Good

(M2/D2)

1 Yes 7 3.25 3.75 Good

(M2/D3)

3.5

Good

(M2/D1)

1 No 3 3 - Good

(M2/D2)

0.25

1 No 4 3 1 0.75

133 Sale Sharks Training Ground

Senior Good

(M2/D1)

1 Yes 5 3 2 Good

(M2/D2)

1.75

1 No 7 3 4 3.75

1 No 1 3 2 2.25

1 No 1.5 3 1.5 1.75



Increased floodlighting – floodlighting a match pitch at Ashton on Mersey Rugby Club to accommodate one additional match session per week of training (retaining a proportion on the separate training area) could be sustained by current supply onsite. Similarly, floodlighting one of the unlit pitches not used by Sale Sharks at Sale Sharks Training Ground would eliminate all overplay derived from Sale FC, reducing the total to four match equivalent sessions per week from Sale Sharks training.

Floodlighting a third pitch at Altrincham Kersal Rugby Football Club coupled with increased capacity through qualitative improvement would allow for floodlit training demand to be better spread across the site, reducing the overall level of overplay.

Similarly, floodlighting one or both of the current poor quality pitches at Bowdon Rugby Union Football Club with supplemented improvements to pitch quality would create increased capacity able to be used for midweek training, alleviating the level of overplay on the training pitch which currently accommodates all floodlit training demand.

Relocation of Carrington RFC – loss of the pitch at Carrington RFC to be replaced by a new pipe drained pitch at a new site on Manchester Road, would represent an increase in potential capacity of 0.25 (from 1.5 to 1.75 assuming the level of maintenance continues as present).

However, this would not represent an increase in peak time capacity when the pitch is fully utilised, though there would be 0.75 match equivalent sessions available to accommodate additional use at non-peak times, for example should the club seek to establish a junior section.

Increased World Rugby compliant 3G provision – Sale Sharks and Sale FC have aspirations to create a full sized World Rugby compliant 3G pitch.

Replacing one of the four senior pitches onsite with a World Rugby complaint 3G surface and transfer of total training demand of ten match equivalent sessions per week from grass pitches to 3G would eliminate overplay onsite.

Doing so would also increase actual spare capacity available on Saturday afternoons from two match equivalent sessions to five, based on a 3G pitch being able to accommodate two matches in sequence rather than one.

This considered, the site is not presently used for senior rugby and the main benefit of installing a 3G pitch would be to better accommodate training demand from both clubs, particularly Sale Sharks which requires use three to four days a week.

A planning application has also been submitted for the creation of a new full sized, floodlit 3G pitch at The Grammar (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys) to be World Rugby compliant and available for community use. Though it would be shared with football, this would increase capacity available in the South Area for floodlit training and match play.

Both Altrincham Kersal RFC and Bowdon RUFC have stated willingness to use a proposed World Rugby compliant pitch at this site. In combination with aforementioned floodlighting and pitch improvements at each club site, transferring a proportion of club training from each to the potential 3G pitch (subject to securing access to capacity) would reduce and could eliminate overplay at the respective club sites.






Rugby union 5.91 6 senior pitches





Rugby union 1.1 1 senior pitch

Recommendations – Rugby union

Existing quantity of rugby pitches to be protected.

Support Carrington RFC with plans to relocate to a new site and ensure that new provision is installed to meet RFU specifications.

Support Manchester Village Spartans RFC as part of Sale Sports Club to secure long-term tenure at Clarendon Crescent, at the same time increasing opportunities for the Club to access external funding to improve facilities.

Seek to reduce or eliminate overplay at both Altrincham Kersal Rugby Football Club and Bowdon Rugby Union Football Club by increasing capacity through a combination of maintenance and drainage improvements, as well as exploring potential to increase floodlighting to make use of this capacity better spread training demand across the site.

Consider opportunities to develop World Rugby compliant 3G provision and to utilise for training and match play to reduce impact and levels of overplay on match pitches.

Seek to transfer a proportion of training demand from match pitches on a site by site basis, where increased capacity through maintenance and/or drainage improvements does not represent a sufficient and sustainable solution to reducing levels of overplay. Access to additional floodlit provision midweek would be required, either in the form of additional floodlit grass pitches or access to capacity on a World rugby compliant 3G pitch.

Should a full sized World Rugby compliant 3G pitch be developed as proposed at The Grammar (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys), seek to secure community use for rugby union, particularly for Bowdon RUFC and Altrincham Kersal RUFC to help reduce overplay at their respective club sites.

Develop improved and extended ancillary facilities Bowdon Rugby Football Club to better accommodate and facilitate growth, particularly at junior level and for women and girls’ rugby.

Develop the quality and provision of ancillary facilities at Altrincham Kersal Rugby Union Football Club, including better quality changing provision, increased car parking capacity and aspirations to add floodlighting to the remaining unlit pitch.

Similarly, seek to improve quality of dated changing provision at Ashton on Mersey Rugby Club.



Rugby league Summary There are 3 dedicated rugby league pitches in Trafford (two senior, one primary). All of

which are available for community use. There is also one Rugby union pitch which is subject to rugby league use from January to October.

There is one good quality pitch in Trafford, located at Wellacre Academy, with the remaining two pitches assessed as standard quality.

All pitches are used by schools in the area, however the two pitches at Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College are owned and maintained by the Council.

Changing facilities where present are generally regarded as standard quality. At Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College the changing facilities are a walk from the pitch via a public path, which is inaccessible for emergency vehicles.

There is a total of six rugby league teams competing in Trafford, made up of three junior (U13-U18), two primary (U7-U12) teams and one senior men’s team, from Swinton Lions RLFC. Salford Red Devils Community Foundation provides organised training sessions in schools in an attempt to grow participation.

Swinton Lions RLFC imports demand from Salford in order to meet facility requirements of the RFL Championship League which are not presently able to be accommodated in Salford. However, this imported use is considered to be temporary as the Club has plans to develop new provision in Salford.

Overplay can only be dealt with by improving pitch quality or providing access to more training pitches or areas which are not used for competitive play.

If the demand for Rugby League is to grow in Trafford it should be recognised that North Trafford Raiders RLFC folded due to a lack of interest. Further investigation in to the strategic delivery of the sport in Trafford should be considered.

Scenarios Improving pitch quality – improving senior pitch quality from poor to standard at

Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College through qualitative improvements and better maintenance would create one match session per week of additional capacity.

This is not sufficient to completely eliminate overplay as 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week would remain. It is also possible that additional school use throughout the week exacerbates overplay to an extent, though summer sports use by the school is most likely to be for athletics using the seasonal track marked around (in some areas onto) the pitch.

Increasing pitch provision – three youth teams share use of the senior pitch on Sunday mornings, evidencing demand in excess of current peak time capacity by 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Current primary demand is sufficiently being met by current provision with the one primary sized pitch at capacity. There would be overplay on this pitch if another

primary team was created.

There is a need for 0.5 additional match equivalent sessions on senior pitches (summer season) in Trafford in order to accommodate overplay and future

demand. The main reason for this is that all pitches receive curriculum use and are marked for other sports, i.e. football and athletics.

There is a peak time requirement for 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week per

week on senior pitches to accommodate current youth demand from South Trafford Raiders RLFC. This could be accommodated at Wellacre Academy where the pitch is unused or through creation of an additional senior pitch as the club

aspires for.



South Trafford Raiders RFLC has aspirations to create a new senior pitch. Doing so would create additional peak time capacity of one match session per week, enough to accommodate both the current level youth demand at peak time and some future growth at youth level.

Use of alternative training provision – at present, training use of one match session per week takes place on the senior pitch at Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College. Transfer of this training use to other grass areas away from the match pitch would reduce the level of overplay from 1.5 match equivalent sessions per week per week to 0.5.

This alone would not serve to eliminate overplay completely and increased capacity through qualitative improvement is required to do so.




Rugby league 0.77 1 pitch





Rugby league 0.14 No pitches

Recommendations – rugby league Given that club rugby league play is based at specific partner sites, seek to address

overplay at Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College through qualitative improvements to increase capacity.

Support the Club with aspirations to develop a second senior pitch on land neighbouring the school to further increase capacity available and address peak time shortfalls.

Target further development of participation at Wellacre Academy and seek to re-establish the North Trafford Titans RLFC satellite club linked to it.

Support Swinton Lions RLFC with creation of a new ground in Salford and successful relocation from Trafford.



Hockey pitches (AGPs) Summary There are currently nine full sized sand based AGPs in Trafford, eight are available for

community use and six of these have floodlighting. The full sized sand dressed AGP at Trafford College is poor quality has limited community use and does not have floodlights.

Of the eight pitches fully available, all are currently accessed by teams in Trafford. The two pitches at Devisdale pitches cannot be used concurrently as there is no safety barrier between the two.

Seven of the nine AGPs (78%) are rated as standard quality, whilst one at Brooklands Sports Club is rated as good quality and one at Trafford College is rated as poor.

Five of the hockey suitable AGPs are in excess of the recommended lifespan of 10 years, yet despite this only one at Trafford College is deemed to be of poor quality. Three other pitches will also meet the 10 year surface lifespan later in 2017.

Half of the hockey suitable AGPs that are available for community use, are located at education sites with the remaining four pitches located at club owned sites. Tenure of all pitches in Trafford is considered to be secure.

There are five hockey clubs currently playing in Trafford generating a total of 75 teams; 47 senior teams and 28 junior teams. In addition to this Sale HC are considered to be based in the Borough but export all demand to Manchester due to a lack of an available pitch. Cumulatively there is a total of 1,993 members across the six clubs, made up of 868 seniors and 1115 juniors.

EH predicts the growth rate for Trafford to be 20%, When applied to current affiliated club participation levels, this suggests an increase of approximately 169 new adult and 220 new junior participants.

Scenarios Increased access to education pitches – the pitch at Trafford College is unavailable

for community use and without floodlighting. Obtaining access to the pitch would create additional capacity in the South Area of two match equivalent sessions per week on Saturday (reduced from four due to absence of floodlighting).

All eight AGPs used by local clubs should be protected in order to continue to accommodate current hockey users.

Overall, there is a present need for at least one new sand based AGP with

floodlighting in the Central Area to accommodate Sale HC which is actively seeking a return to Trafford at Clarendon Crescent.

In the longer term, increases in participation should be concurrently re-evaluated to determine whether they are reflected as an increase in peak time demand for

match play which may lead to a need for increased capacity on Saturday afternoons.

There will also be a clear future need to accommodate significant levels of

increased participation midweek leading to a requirement for greater access to increased floodlit capacity midweek.



Pitches become unusable – Eight of the nine full sized hockey suitable AGPs are in excess of the recommended surface lifespan. Should the seven of these pitches which are currently used fall into disrepair and become unusable there would be a need to accommodate 37 teams which play on Saturdays (some infrequently), equivalent to 18.5 match equivalent sessions per week. These pitches accommodate 58 teams in total (77% of total demand), as well as a significant level of club training, junior play and football training.

Creation of new AGP provision – delivery of a new full sized floodlit AGP as proposed at Clarendon Crescent would create capacity on Saturdays of four match equivalent sessions per week to accommodate Sale HC which is currently displaced outside of the Borough into Manchester.

Sale HC currently has six teams which require pitch provision consistently for league play, representing three match equivalent sessions per week. It also has two senior teams which play infrequently and could be accommodated. As such, all could be accommodated.

Increasing the number of 3G pitches – given the shortfall of full sized 3G pitches in Trafford and the level of use of sand or water based AGPs for football training, there is a likely impact on the future sustainability of hockey suitable AGPs as some football demand is likely to transfer onto 3G pitches as more are provided.

However, this impact is less likely at club sites where as associates or member sections of overarching sports clubs, football clubs will likely train onsite to ensure the sustainability of AGP provision and reduce external cost and travel.

Converting pitches to 3G – all available hockey suitable AGPs are currently used for hockey in some capacity and therefore none should be considered for conversion to 3G whilst this remains the case.

In the event that in future a hockey suitable AGP becomes surplus to requirements for hockey, England Hockey, Cheshire FA and Manchester FA should work together to identify the feasibility of converting hockey suitable AGPs to address shortfalls of 3G provision. Consideration must be given to maintaining a balance of increasing 3G provision whilst maintaining a range of surfaces to continue to sufficiently accommodate hockey demand.




Hockey 8.77 2 artificial grass pitches





Hockey 1.64 No artificial grass pitches



Bowling greens Summary There are 49 crown bowling greens in Trafford provided across 42 sites with seven

double green sites. There are no flat greens in Trafford. The majority of crown greens are located in South Area (30%) whilst North has the least

(16%). Most crown greens in Trafford are rated as good quality (40 greens), with the remaining

greens assessed as standard (eight greens) or poor (one green) quality. Most greens are owned and managed by the Council and are rented by clubs. Of the 49

total greens in Trafford, there are 26 Council managed greens (53%). There are 60 clubs using bowling greens in Trafford and membership of responding

clubs ranges from 12 to 193 members. Ten sites are considered to be operating above the recommended capacity level,

notably Timperley Village, Metro Sports & Social Club and Davyhulme Social Club. Nine sites have no recorded club use, including three Council managed sites.

Victoria Park has just 62 members across two greens and consideration should be given to the viability of continuing to provide both greens moving forward.

Scenario Loss of access to Council managed provision – in light of budgetary pressures, the

ability of the Council to maintain the current level of bowling green provision may in future be impacted upon.

Recommendations – hockey Retain all eight available full sized hockey suitable AGPs to accommodate current and

future demand.

Support Sale HC with negotiating security of long term tenure at Clarendon Crescent and plans to create a new AGP onsite, consequently meeting the shortfall identified in the Central Area to accommodate presently displaced demand.

Investigate feasibility of floodlighting the pitches at Devisdale Pitches and Trafford College to allow for evening community use and increase capacity available, notwithstanding qualitative improvements required at the latter.

Seek access to increased capacity for hockey to facilitate club driven growth in participation, including for match play, training and non-traditional alternative hockey activity. This could be achieved through increased floodlighting of AGPs, creation of new AGPs or increased access for hockey to capacity freed up through the creation of new 3G pitches and anticipated transfer of football demand from sand based pitches, for example as proposed at The Grammar (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys).

Monitor pitch quality at sites where the AGP is in excess of the surface lifespan and ensure providers have a mechanism for sustainability to repair or replace the surface when quality deteriorates to become unsafe or performs poorly.

Encourage providers to put in place a mechanism for sustainability to maintain AGP pitch quality in the long term, such as a sinking fund (formed by periodically setting aside money over time ready for surface replacement when required).

There is sufficient supply of outdoor bowling greens to accommodate current demand across Trafford. Existing provision is also enough to cater for the likely level of demand in future given a national trend of decline in participation and an

ageing membership demographic.



Should access to all Council bowling provision be lost, there would be a need to re-

accommodate approximately 772 participants from 26 greens across 14 sites. This does however represent a worst-case scenario and it is unlikely that all Council bowling provision would be lost in its entirety.

Tennis courts Summary There is sufficient supply of tennis courts in Trafford to cater for current demand

and casual use from both clubs and community participation initiatives, meaning that courts in use should be protected to maintain current supply.

There are a total of 176 tennis courts identified in Trafford, of which 43 courts are not available for community use.

There are 26 floodlit courts in Trafford spread across six sites. All of these courts are currently located at club sites.

The majority of courts were rated as good quality (82 courts – 46%), whilst the remaining courts were rated as either standard (59 courts – 34%) or poor (35 courts – 20%) quality.

The majority of courts are macadam surfaces, representing 38% of existing supply. Tenure of all club sites is considered to be secure. However, tenure for Northern Aces

hiring courts at Urmston Sports Club is considered to be unsecured. Many clubs report that senior membership has declined recently as a natural result of

the ageing profile of the Club membership. Some clubs also report that membership has been affected by the quality of facilities, coaching and club location.

Urmston TC has submitted an expression of interest to the LTA for funding towards installing floodlighting on the three artificial courts at Urmston Sports Club.

Recommendations – bowling

Existing quantity of bowling greens to be protected.

Ensure greens are maintained to the required quality and seek to establish a sustainable mechanism for maintenance in light of Council budgetary pressures.

Further consultation required to establish the potential for clubs to take greater responsibility for management and maintenance where feasible and possible. This should include options for Community Asset Transfer where a club or organisation has desire to take on the facility and can evidence ability to feasibly sustain it.

Support clubs which currently maintain bowling green provision or have aspirations to do so with regards to sufficient access to maintenance equipment, including potential for creation of equipment

Consider consultation with clubs which share green provision regarding potential to merge in order to develop collective resource and make them stronger and more sustainable.

There is sufficient supply of tennis courts in Trafford to cater for current demand and casual use from both clubs and community participation initiatives, meaning

that courts in use should be protected to maintain current supply.

However, there is a need for increased floodlighting, particularly at Council managed park hub sites to offer a broader range of playing opportunities for

community and recreational formats.



It is likely that demand for recreational play increases annually following events such as Wimbledon and publicly accessible Council managed sites are generally assumed to be busier during the summer when the light allows for more evening play.

Participation is largely club based and club sites are generally self-serving. Club access to floodlit courts does not appear to be an issue and court quality at club sites is generally good.

However, significantly none of the 34 Council managed sites have floodlighting, representing a key deficiency in availability of floodlit tennis provision to cater for social and recreational formats of play.

There are five tennis park hubs identified in Trafford and floodlighting one or more of these sites would help broaden playing and community coaching opportunities, particularly Longford Park which is the largest hub site and has potential to increase the number of courts.

Scenarios Increased floodlighting – of the 72 courts used by clubs in Trafford, only 18 are

floodlit. Five club sites have no floodlit provision at all, accounting for 42 of the club courts without floodlighting. To provide floodlighting on at least half of the courts at these five sites, there would be need to floodlight 22 courts in total.

Recommendations – tennis Retain existing court provision and ensure sustainability of sites through appropriate

levels of sinking fund for club and park venues. Improve quality and maximise use through delivery of LTA initiatives and encourage

providers to make use of technology innovations, as well as insight led programmes to grow participation and effective marketing.

Explore additional sites at which to establish a community tennis hub delivery model, including parks and possible secondary schools.

Seek to develop tennis hubs at existing parks, ensuring the sustainability of sites with appropriate maintenance of courts and sinking funds allocated for the long term. Implement the Clubspark system to monitor utilisation levels whilst developing cost effective coaching delivery models to develop further demand and community use.

Create a pathway between community delivery and local clubs, so that those wanting to play competitive team tennis are able to do so.

Seek to address lack of floodlit provision at community and education sites, particularly Longford Park, Urmston Sports Club and school sites which offer opportunities to enhance community access to tennis provision.

Seek to address the lack of indoor tennis provision across community or club sites to help cater for high levels of club membership (5952) in the Borough whilst offering tennis more widely to recreational players.



Athletics tracks Summary There are currently three athletics tracks in Trafford, one each located in the North, East

and Central areas. There are two poor quality cinder surfaces located at Timperley Recreation Ground and

Crossford Bridge and one standard quality surface located at Longford Park (the only competition licensed track in Trafford).

The track at Crossford Bridge is rated as poor quality and is considered to be the poorest of the three in the Borough.

The spectator stand at Longford Park was identified as being in need of urgent repair, whilst changing facilities at Timperley Recreation Ground were identified as being inadequate.

All three tracks are managed by resident clubs, subsidised by a managed fee paid annually by the Council. The Council identifies a need to review the current historical management agreements as part of a revised approach to future improvement and sustainability.

There are three athletics clubs in Trafford, though only Trafford AC is based at a competition licensed track (Longford Park). Between them the Clubs have approximately 1420 affiliated members, though demand in practice is higher due to the level of unaffiliated members. Membership at Sale Harriers Manchester AC is split across three sites and not all members are based in Trafford.

The tracks also serve an important role for other groups, such as a training facility for triathlon clubs or a safe circuit for adapted and all ability cycling, both of which, take place at Longford Park.

A number of other running initiatives such as Parkrun are likely to develop further demand for running. This should in turn lead to increased membership at athletics clubs or increased demand for track access from other running groups which form part of the wider fitness and exercise market.

A key priority is the need to improve track quality, notably at both Timperley Recreation Ground and Crossford Bridge. Additionally, there is an evident need for the Council to work with resident clubs to secure long term tenure, allowing the clubs confidence to invest funds into facilities they have confirmed future use of whilst opening up new opportunities to access grant funding from sources which require evidence of long term tenure.

The Council should work with respective clubs and England Athletics to establish robust and deliverable models for sustainability should any potential lease agreement be considered. It is important that clubs understand both the legal and financial responsibilities of committing to such an agreement and that they are realistically able to maintain and operate the site to a sufficient standard over the long term.

In conclusion, supply of athletics tracks in Trafford is considered able to sufficiently cater for current and future demand. However, there are significant issues which need to be addressed in relation to poor quality and security of

tenure.



Lacrosse Summary Trafford is a strong area for lacrosse and there are two well established clubs. Both

were consulted through an online survey, to which Timperley Lacrosse Club responded. There are six lacrosse pitches in Trafford, three at Timperley Cricket, Hockey &

Lacrosse Club (South Area) and three at Brooklands Sports Club (Central Area). All are located at multi sport sites and all are marked onto the outfields of cricket pitches.

The pitches at Timperley Cricket, Hockey & Lacrosse Club are said to be improved since last year following repair and drainage work undertaken assisted by grant funding secured.

In total there are ten adult teams (two of which are boys U19 teams), seven junior boys’ teams and seven junior girls’ teams. Another eight teams not based in Trafford import demand to play at Timperley Cricket, Hockey & Lacrosse Club as part of an U19 central venue league.

Recommendations – athletics Further discuss sustainability plans with all three clubs and determine viability of long

term self-management. Consider potential to negotiate long term lease or asset transfer where clubs can demonstrate they would be able to sustain and improve sporting and ancillary assets onsite.

As a priority, seek to resurface the track at Timperley Recreation Ground from poor quality cinder surface to synthetic in conjunction with Altrincham & District AC. Consider potential for Section 106 investment to assist with resurfacing.

Ensure that the Longford Park track is maintained rigorously and regularly as required in order to preserve quality given it serves as the only track in the Borough licensed to host competitive athletics.

Explore options regarding the Crossford Bridge site, particularly regarding aspirations to create a football hub site with 3G pitch provision. Consider the potential impact on athletics should this happen as well as opportunities to resurface the track as part of a wider site improvement scheme.

Seek to maximise use of athletics tracks at non-peak times such as during the day, including by other groups and schools.

Recommendations – lacrosse

Existing quantity of provision to be protected.

Seek to increase participation linked to the 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship, with new participants signposted to established clubs.

Ensure access to grass pitch and AGP provision is sufficient to be able to accommodate current and future demand.

Ensure pitches are maintained often and to a high standard to accommodate level of use, particularly where pitches are marked onto other sports pitches.

Demand for lacrosse in Trafford is currently sufficiently catered for. Key priority for English Lacrosse is to increase participation and more so the number of clubs

across the region to develop local competition, whilst continuing to develop participation at established clubs.



Gaelic sports Summary In total there three Gaelic sports pitches in Trafford able to be used for Gaelic football,

hurling and camogie; two at Turn Moss (North Area) and one at Trafford Metrovicks RFC (Central Area).

Lancashire County Board GAA states that the nature of pitch use is fairly fluid between Manchester and Trafford dependant on the weather conditions and which pitches are in a playable condition as all three pitches in Trafford are subject to flooding by the River Mersey which runs by all three sites.

Recommendations – gaelic sports

Existing quantity of provision to be protected.

Seek to improve pitch quality at Turn Moss so that pitches are able to be used regularly and consistently.

Explore opportunities in consultation with Lancashire County Board GAA to potentially develop a championship standard pitch, possibly as part of any future multi-sport hub site development.

Demand for Gaelic sports can be accommodated sufficiently by existing supply; however pitch quality improvements are required at Turn Moss for

pitches to be playable on a consistent basis.

Instead the County Board highlights a need for a championship standard pitch, either in Trafford or Manchester.



PART 5: STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS The strategic recommendations for the Strategy have been developed from the key issues cutting across all playing pitch sports and categorised under each of the Strategy Aims. They reflect overarching and common areas to be addressed which apply across outdoor sports facilities and may not be specific to just one sport. Recommendation a – Protect playing field sites through local planning policy The PPS Assessment shows that all currently used playing field sites require protection and therefore cannot be deemed surplus to requirements because of shortfalls now and in the future. Therefore, based on the outcomes of the PPS, local planning policy should reflect this situation. Paragraph 74 of the Framework states that existing open space, sports and recreational buildings and land, including playing fields, should not be built on unless: An assessment has been undertaken which has clearly shown the open space,

buildings or land to be surplus to requirements; or The loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced by equivalent or

better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a suitable location; or The development is for alternative sports and recreational provision, the needs for which

clearly outweigh the loss. Lapsed and disused – playing field sites that formerly accommodated playing pitches but are no longer used for formal or informal sports use within the last five years (lapsed) or longer (disused). The following is a list of identified lapsed/disused sites:

Site name Sport(s) Status Comments

Oldfield Brow Football Lapsed Council managed site which formerly contained a junior pitch. Disused as site suffered persistent vandalism with damage to goal posts. Ceased to be used approximately seven seasons ago (circa 2010).

Bailey Walk Football Lapsed Private site in Altrincham included within the Council Draft Outdoor Sports Facilities Assessment in 2008. No known record of when the site was last used for sport.

Recommendations: a. Protect playing field sites through local planning policy b. Secure tenure and access to sites for high quality, development minded clubs,

through a range of solutions and partnership agreements. c. Maximise community use of education facilities where there is a need to do so.

Aim 1

To protect the existing supply of playing pitch facilities where it is needed for meeting current or future needs



Site name Sport(s) Status Comments

Manor Farm Football Disused Former training base of Stockport County FC. Previously had in excess of five football pitches onsite. Held on long term lease from the Council by a private leaseholder previously associated with the Club. The Council reports that the leaseholder is exploring opportunities to transfer the lease to another party, with the new party to retain the site for sporting use.

Moss View Road Playing Field

Football Lapsed Playing field land which was previously marked with an adult football pitch with surrounding perimeter rail fencing. The playing field lies on contaminated land, previously used for the deposit of gas industry waste. Remediation works since undertaken by the Council.

The PPS Assessment shows that all currently used playing field sites require protection and therefore cannot be deemed surplus to requirements because of shortfalls now and in the future. Lapsed, disused, underused and poor quality sites should also be protected from development or replaced as there is potential need for playing field land to accommodate more pitches to meet the identified shortfalls. New housing development - where proposed housing development is located within the catchment area of a high quality playing pitch site in line with the Council’s adopted quality and accessibility standards, this does not necessarily mean that there is no need for further pitch provision or improvements to existing pitches in that area in order to accommodate additional demand arising from that development. The PPS should be used to help determine what impact the new development will have on the capacity of existing sites in the area, and whether there is a need for improvements to increase capacity or if new provision is required. The PPS should be used to help inform development management decisions that affect existing or new playing fields, pitches and ancillary facilities. All applications are assessed by the Local Planning Authority on a case by case basis taking into account site specific factors. In addition, Sport England as statutory consultee on planning applications that affect or prejudice the use of playing field will use the PPS to help assess that planning application against their Playing Fields Policy Sport England’s playing field policy exception E1 only allows for development of lapsed or disused playing fields if a PPS shows a clear excess in the quantity of playing pitch provision at present and in the future across all playing pitch sports types and sizes. Policy Exception E1: ‘A carefully quantified and documented assessment of current and future needs has demonstrated to the satisfaction of Sport England that there is an excess of playing field provision in the catchment, and the site has no special significance to the interests of sport’. Where the PPS cannot demonstrate the site, or part of a site, is clearly surplus to requirements then replacement of the site, or part of a site, will be required to comply with Sport England policy exception E4.



Policy Exception E4: ‘The playing field or fields to be lost as a result of the proposed development would be replaced, prior to the commencement of development, by a new playing field site or sites: of equivalent or better quality and of equivalent or greater quantity; in a suitable location and subject to equivalent or better management arrangements. Further to this, all playing fields should be protected or replaced up until the point where all satisfied demand has been met within the study area or each individual sports catchment areas within a sub area. Each currently disused/lapsed site is included within the action plan together with a recommendation in relation to the need to bring the site back into use or mitigate the loss on a replacement site to address the shortfalls identified with the Assessment. Local authorities wanting to dispose of school playing field land need consent under Section 77 of the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998, but consent is now also required for disposal of any land used by a school or academy under Schedule 1 to the Academies Act 2010. It should be noted that consent under Section 77 of the Schools Standards and Framework Act does not necessarily mean subsequent planning approval will be granted. Therefore, any application for planning permission must meet the requirements of the relevant policy, in this case paragraph 74 of Framework, Local Plan Policy and Sport England policy. Indeed, applicants are advised to engage Sport England before submitting applications. Robust implementation of the statutory obligation will ensure protection of school playing fields for use by pupils (and sometimes the community as a whole) to ensure receipt is ploughed back into sports education. Recommendation b – Secure tenure and access to sites for high quality, development minded clubs through a range of solutions and partnership agreements A number of school sites are being used in Trafford for competitive play, predominately for football. In all cases use of pitches has not been classified as unsecure, however, use is not necessarily formalised and further work should be carried out to ensure an appropriate Community Use Agreement (CUA) is in place (including access to changing provision where required). NGBs can often help to negotiate and engage with schools where the local authority may not have direct influence. Sport England has also produced guidance, online resources and toolkits to help open up and retain school sites for community use and can be found at: http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/use-our-school/ Local sports clubs should be supported by partners including the Council, NGBs or the County Sports Partnership (CSP) to achieve sustainability across a range of areas including management, membership, funding, facilities, volunteers and partnership working. For example, support club development and encourage clubs to develop evidence of business and sports development plans to generate an income through their facilities.

http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/use-our-school/



All clubs could be encouraged to look at different management models such as registering as Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC)10. Clubs should also be encouraged to work with partners locally whether volunteer support agencies or linking with local businesses. As well as improving the quality of well-used, local authority sites, there are a number of sites which have poor quality (or no) ancillary facilities. The Council should further explore opportunities where security of tenure could be granted to the clubs playing on these sites (minimum 25 years as recommended by Sport England and NGBs) so the clubs or sports associations of which they may form part of are in a position to apply for external funding to improve the ancillary facilities. Further to this there could be examples in Trafford where long term leases could be put into place for the continued use of a site. Each club should be required to meet service and/or strategic recommendations. However, an additional set of criteria should be considered, which takes into account the quality of the club, aligned to its long-term development objectives and sustainability. In the context of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which announced public spending cuts, it is increasingly important for the Council to work with voluntary sector organisations in order that they may be able to take greater levels of ownership and support the wider development and maintenance of facilities. To facilitate this, the Council should support and enable clubs to generate sufficient funds to allow this. Recommended criteria for lease of sport sites to clubs/organisations:

Club Site

Clubs should have Clubmark/FA Charter Standard accreditation award.

Clubs commit to meeting demonstrable local demand and show pro-active commitment to developing school-club links.

Clubs are sustainable, both in a financial sense and via their internal management structures in relation to recruitment and retention policy for both players and volunteers.

Ideally, clubs should have already identified (and received an agreement in principle) any match funding required for initial capital investment identified.

Clubs have processes in place to ensure capacity to maintain sites to the existing, or better, standards.

Sites should be those identified as ‘Club Sites’ (recommendation d) for new clubs (i.e. not those with a Borough wide significance) but which offer development potential. For established clubs which have proven success in terms of self-management ‘Key Centres’ are also appropriate.

As a priority, sites should acquire capital investment to improve (which can be attributed to the presence of a Clubmark/Charter Standard club).

Sites should be leased with the intention that investment can be sourced to contribute towards improvement of the site.

An NGB/Council representative should sit on a management committee for each site leased to a club.

The Council can further recognise the value of NGB club accreditation by adopting a policy of prioritising the clubs that are to have access to these better quality facilities. This may be achieved by inviting clubs to apply for season long leases on a particular site as an initial trial.

10

http://www.cascinfo.co.uk/cascbenefits

http://www.cascinfo.co.uk/cascbenefits



The Council should establish a series of core outcomes to derive from clubs taking on a lease arrangement to ensure that the most appropriate clubs are assigned to sites. As an example, outcome may include: Increasing participation. Supporting the development of coaches and volunteers. Commitment to quality standards. Improvements (where required) to facilities, or as a minimum retaining existing

standards. In addition, clubs should be made fully aware of the associated responsibilities/liabilities when considering leases of multi-use public playing fields. Community Asset Transfer The Council should continue to work towards adopting a policy which supports community management and ownership of assets to local clubs, community groups and trusts. This presents sports clubs and national governing bodies with opportunities to take ownership of their own facilities; it may also provide non-asset owning sports clubs with their first chance to take on a building. The Sport England Community Sport Asset Transfer Toolkit is a bespoke, interactive web based tool that provides a step by step guide through each stage of the asset transfer process: http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/tools-guidance/asset-transfer/ Recommendation c – Maximise community use of education sites where there is a need to do so Given the mix of providers in Trafford, there is a need for the Council and NGBs to work with other partners to help maximise use of outdoor sports facilities and in particular grass pitches and AGPs. In order to maximise community use of educational facilities it is recommended to establish a more coherent, structured relationship with schools. The ability to access good facilities within the local community is vital to any sports organisation, yet many clubs struggle to find good quality places to play and train. In Trafford pricing policies at facilities can be barrier to access at some of the education sites but physical access and resistance from schools to open up provision is also an issue. A number of sporting facilities are located on education sites and making these available to sports clubs can offer significant benefits to both the school/college and the local clubs. The Council and other key partners must work with schools and colleges to develop an understanding of the issues that restrict or affect community access. Support should be provided, where appropriate, to address underlying problems. Where appropriate, it will be important for schools to negotiate and sign formal and long-term agreements that secure community use. It is not uncommon for school pitch stock not to be fully maximised for community use. Even on established community use sites, access to grass pitches for community use is limited. In some instances, grass pitches are unavailable for community use due to poor quality and therefore remedial works will be required before community use can be established.

http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/tools-guidance/asset-transfer/



As detailed earlier, Sport England has also produced guidance, online resources and toolkits to help open up and retain school sites for community use and can be found at: http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/use-our-school/ Although there are a growing number of academies in Trafford that operate independently of Council control, it is still important to understand the significance of such sites and attempt to work with the schools where there are opportunities for community use. In addition, the relevant NGB has a role to play in supporting the Council to deliver the strategy and communicating with schools where necessary to address shortfalls in provision, particularly for football pitches.

http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/use-our-school/



Recommendation d – Improve quality There are a number of ways in which it is possible to increase pitch quality, including for example, addressing overplay and improving maintenance. These are explored in more detail below. Addressing quality issues Generally, where pitches are assessed as standard or poor quality and/or overplayed, maintenance regimes should be reviewed and improved to ensure an appropriate standard to sustain/improve pitch quality. Ensuring existing maintenance of good quality pitches continues is also important. Based on an achievable target using existing quality scoring to provide a baseline, a standard should be used to identify deficiencies and investment should be focused on those sites which fail to meet the proposed quality standard (using the site audit database, provided in electronic format). The Strategy approach to these outdoor sports facilities achieving these standards should be to enhance quality and therefore the planning system should seek to protect them. For the purposes of the quality assessments, this strategy will refer to pitches and ancillary facilities separately as good, standard or poor quality. In Trafford, for example, some good quality sites have poor quality elements i.e. changing rooms or a specific pitch. Good quality refers to pitches that have, for example, a good maintenance regime coupled with good grass cover, an even surface, are free from vandalism, litter etc. In terms of ancillary facilities, good quality refers to access for disabled people, sufficient provision for referees, juniors/women/girls and appropriate provision of showers, toilets and car parking. For Rugby union, a good pitch is also pipe and/or slit drained. Standard quality refers to pitches that have, for example, an adequate maintenance regime coupled with adequate grass cover, minimal signs of wear and tear, goalposts may be secure but in need of minor repair. In terms of ancillary facilities, standard quality refers to adequately sized changing rooms, storage provision and provision of toilets. For Rugby union, drainage is natural and adequate.

Aim 2

To enhance playing fields, pitches and ancillary facilities through improving quality and management of sites

Recommendation: d. Improve quality e. Adopt a tiered approach (hierarchy of provision) for the management and

improvement of sites. f. Work in partnership with stakeholders to secure funding



Poor quality refers to pitches that have, for example, poor levels of maintenance coupled with inadequate grass cover, uneven surface and damage. In terms of ancillary facilities, poor quality refers to inappropriate size of changing rooms, no showers, no running water and old dated interior. For Rugby union, drainage is natural and inadequate. Please refer to the Sport England/NGB quality assessments. Sites played beyond capacity may require remedial action to help reduce this. In terms of ancillary facilities, poor quality refers to inappropriate size of changing rooms, no showers, no running water and old dated interior. Without appropriate, fit for purpose ancillary facilities, good quality pitches may be underutilised. Changing facilities form the most essential part of this offer and therefore key sites such as those mentioned above should be given priority for improvement. In order to prioritise investment into key sites it is recommended that the steering group works up a list of criteria, relevant to the Area, to provide a steer on future investment. For improvement/replacement of AGPs refer to Sport England and the NGBs ‘Selecting the Right Artificial Surface for Hockey, Football, Rugby League and Rugby union’ document for a guide as to suitable AGP surfaces: www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/tools-guidance/design-and-cost-guidance/artificial-sports-surfaces/ Addressing overplay In order to improve the overall quality of the playing pitches stock; it is necessary to ensure that pitches are not overplayed beyond recommended weekly carrying capacity. This is determined by assessing pitch quality (via a non-technical site assessment) and allocating a weekly match limit to each. Each NGB recommends a number of matches that a good quality grass pitch should take:

Sport Pitch type No. of matches

Good quality Standard quality

Poor quality

Football Adult pitches 3 per week 2 per week 1 per week

Youth pitches 4 per week 2 per week 1 per week

Mini pitches 6 per week 4 per week 2 per week

Rugby union

11

Natural Inadequate (D0) 2 per week 1.5 per week 0.5 per week

Natural Adequate (D1) 3 per week 2 per week 1.5 per week

Pipe Drained (D2) 3.25 per week 2.5 per week 1.75 per week

Pipe and Slit Drained (D3)

3.5 per week 3 per week 2 per week

Rugby league

Senior 3 per week 2 per week 1 per week

Cricket One grass wicket

One synthetic wicket

5 per season

60 per season

N/A N/A

11

The RFU believes that it is most appropriate to base the calculation of pitch capacity upon an assessment of the drainage system and maintenance programme afforded to a site.

http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/tools-guidance/design-and-cost-guidance/artificial-sports-surfaces/

http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/tools-guidance/design-and-cost-guidance/artificial-sports-surfaces/



There are also a number of sites that are poor quality but are not overplayed. These sites should not be overlooked as often poor quality sites have less demand than other sites but demand could increase if the quality was to increase. Improving pitch quality should not be considered in isolation from maintenance regimes. Whilst it works both ways in so much as poor pitch condition is a symptom of pitches being over played, potential improvements may make sites more attractive and therefore more popular. There is also a need to balance pitch improvements alongside the transfer of play to alternative pitch sites. Therefore, work with clubs to ensure that sites are not played beyond their capacity and encourage play, where possible, to be transferred to alternative venues which are not operating at capacity. Improving pitch maintenance Standard or poor grass pitch quality may not just be a result of poor drainage. In some instances, ensuring there is an appropriate maintenance regime for the level/standard of play can help to improve quality and therefore increase pitch capacity. Each NGB can provide assistance with reviewing pitch maintenance regimes. For example, the FA, ECB and RFL in partnership have recently introduced a Pitch Advisor Scheme and have been working in partnership with Institute of Groundmanship (IOG) to develop a Grass Pitch Maintenance Service that can be utilised by grassroots football clubs with the simple aim of improving the quality of grass pitches. The key principles behind the service are to provide football clubs with advice/practical solutions on a number of areas, with the simple aim of improving the club’s playing surface. At local authority sites in Trafford, maintenance of grass pitches is deemed to be basic and for football covers grass cutting and seeding only, resulting in many pitches being assessed as poor quality. Where local authority pitches are recommended for improvement within the action plan, carrying out additional regular work such as aerating, sand dressing, fertilising and/or weed killing will all improve quality. An improvement in post season remedial work is also recommended. It is recommended that the Council works with users and both Cheshire FA and Manchester FA to fully determine the most appropriate pitch improvements on a site by site basis. In relation to cricket, maintaining high pitch quality is the most important aspect of cricket. If the wicket is poor, it can affect the quality of the game and can, in some instances, become dangerous. The ECB recommends full technical assessments of wickets and pitches available through a Performance Quality Standard Assessment (PQS). The PQS assesses a cricket square to ascertain whether the pitch meets the Performance Quality Standards that are benchmarked by the Institute of Groundsmanship. Please note that PQS assessments are also available for other sports. Recommendation e – Adopt a tiered approach (hierarchy of provision) for the management and improvement of sites To allow for facility developments to be programmed within a phased approach the Council should adopt a tiered approach to the management and improvement of playing pitch sites and associated facilities. Please refer to Part 4: Action Plan for the proposed hierarchy.



Recommendation f – Work in partnership with stakeholders to secure funding Partners, led by the Council, should ensure that appropriate funding secured for improved sports provision is directed to areas of need, underpinned by a robust strategy for improvement in playing pitch facilities. In order to address the community’s needs, to target priority areas and to reduce duplication of provision, there should be a coordinated approach to strategic investment. In delivering this recommendation the Council should maintain a regular dialogue with local partners and through the Playing Pitch Steering Group. Some investment in new provision will not be made by the Council directly, it is important, however, that the Council therefore seeks to direct and lead a strategic and co-ordinated approach to facility development by education sites, NGBs, sports clubs and the commercial sector to address community needs whilst avoiding duplication of provision. Please refer to Appendix Three for further funding information which includes details of the current opportunities, likely funding requirements and indicative project costs. Sport and physical activity can have a profound effect on peoples’ lives, and plays a crucial role in improving community cohesion, educational attainment and self-confidence. However, one of sport’s greatest contributions is its positive impact on public health. It is therefore important to lever in investment from other sectors such as health and wellbeing for example.



Recommendation g - Rectify quantitative shortfalls in the current pitch stock The Council and its partners should work to rectify identified inadequacies and meet identified shortfalls as outlined in the Assessment Report and the sport by sport specific recommendations. It is important that the current levels of grass pitch provision are protected, maintained and enhanced to secure provision now and in the future. For most sports, the future demand for provision identified in Trafford can be overcome through maximising use of existing pitches through a combination of: Improving pitch quality in order to improve the capacity of pitches to accommodate more

matches. The re-designation of pitches for which there is an oversupply. Securing long term community use at school sites. Working with commercial and private providers to increase usage. While maximising the use of existing pitches offers scope to address the quantitative deficiencies for most sports, new or additional pitches may be required to meet the levels of demand identified for football and rugby both now and in the future. There may be an opportunity to use some senior pitches to provide senior, junior or mini pitches (through different line markings/coning areas of the pitch). However, further work should be undertaken on this as an action for the Council/NGBs. Furthermore, the re-designation of adult pitches that are not currently used may lead to a deficiency of adult pitches in the medium to longer term as younger players move up the ages. It is likely that for some sports, particularly football, that the provision of new pitches and facilities will be required in the future to support the predicted future demand. Unmet demand, changes in sport participation and trends, and proposed housing growth should be recognised and factored into future facility planning. Assuming an increase in participation and housing growth occurs, it will impact on the future need for certain types of sports facilities. Sports development work also approximates unmet demand which cannot currently be quantified (i.e. it is not being suppressed by a lack of facilities) but is likely to occur. The following table highlights the main development trends in each sport and their likely impact on facilities. However, it is important to note that these may be subject to change. Furthermore, retaining some spare capacity allows some pitches to be rested to protect overall pitch quality in the long term. Therefore, whilst in some instances it may be appropriate to re-designate a senior pitch where there is low demand identified, a holistic approach should be taken to re-designation for the reasons cited. The site-by-site action planning will seek to provide further clarification on where re-designation is suitable.

Aim 3

To provide new outdoor sports facilities where there is clear evidence of current or future demand Recommendations: g. Rectify quantitative shortfalls in the current pitch stock. h. Identify opportunities to add to the overall stock to accommodate both current and

future demand.



Likely future sport-by-sport demand trends

Sport Future development trend Strategy impact

Football

As a result of the FA Youth Development Review pitch demands are changing. This could also see changes in the seasonal demand of pitches (youth football).

Consider re-allocating leases to Community Charter Standard clubs with a large number of teams.

Work with clubs to identify facility development opportunities.

Work with clubs in relation to their pitch demands as a result of the FA Youth Development Review.

Demand for senior football is likely to be sustained based on current trends and the move to small sided football. County FA focus to maintain growth of youth football through to adults.

Sustain current stock but consideration given to reconfigure pitches if required.

An increase in women and girls football following £2.4m investment from Sport England between 2014 and 2016 to increase the number of women and girls taking part in football sessions. Additionally, one of the major goals of The FA’s ‘Game Changer’ strategy for Women’s and Girls’ football (2017-2020) is to double participation from the current 6,000 teams to 12,000.

A need to provide segregated ancillary facilities and the potential need for more pitches.

Cricket

Demand is likely to remain static for grass wickets for adult participation. The ECB targets participation increases at junior level through the Allstars Cricket Programme which may have a subsequent future impact on requirement for grass and non-turf cricket provision.

Isolated pockets of demand for access to additional facilities where pitches are operating at capacity.

A need to encourage greater use of non-turf wickets particularly for junior use to help meet shortfalls.

Women’s and girls’ cricket is a national priority and there is a target to establish two girls’ and one women’s team in every local authority over the next five years.

Support clubs to ensure access to segregated changing and toilet provision and access to good quality cricket pitches to support growth.

Rugby union

Locally, the RFU wants to ensure access to pitches in Trafford that satisfies existing demand and predicted growth. It is also an aim to protect and improve pitch quality, as well as ancillary facilities including changing rooms and floodlights.

Clubs are likely to field more teams in the future. It is important, therefore, to work with the clubs to maintain the current pitch stock, support facility development where appropriate and increase the number of floodlit pitches where necessary.

Rugby league

RFL is working towards growing rugby league participation including through growth at junior clubs, Play Touch RL and 9 aside RL.

Review the need for dedicated rugby league pitches in the next three years.

Seek 3G pitch venues for Play Touch and grass pitches for 9 aside.



Sport Future development trend Strategy impact

AGPs Demand for 3G pitches for competitive football will increase. It is likely that future demand for the use of 3G pitches to service competitive football, particularly mini and youth will result in some reduced demand for grass pitches.

Provision of 3G pitches which are World Rugby compliant will help to reduce overplay as a result of training on rugby pitches.

Ensure that access to new AGP provision across the Borough is maximised and that community use agreements are in place.

Utilise Sport England/NGB guidance on choosing the correct surface:

http://www.sportengland.org/media/30651/Selecting-the-right-artificial-surface-Rev2-2010.pdf

Hockey Potential increase of participation particularly junior teams.

Sinking funds in place to improve quality and ensure continued use of provision for current and future hockey demand.

Tennis With the delivery of new LTA initiatives such as Tennis Tuesdays, it is likely that informal participation will increase.

The key aim is to ensure sustainability of park sites through improved quality and implementing online booking systems and gated access.

Bowls Although demand for bowling in the Area is high there is unlikely to be enough future demand generated to sustain new provision.

Likely that future increase could be accommodated on existing greens.

Recommendation h - Identify opportunities to add to the overall pitch stock to accommodate both current and future demand The Council should use, and regularly update, the Action Plan within this Strategy for improvements to its own pitches whilst recognising the need to support partners. The Action Plan lists improvements to be made to each site focused upon both qualitative and quantitative improvements as appropriate for each area. Furthermore, any potential school sites which become redundant over the lifetime of the Strategy may offer potential for meeting community needs on a localised basis. Where schools are closed, their playing fields may be converted to dedicated community use to help address any unmet community needs. Some sites (or adjacent land) in Trafford also have the potential to accommodate more pitches which may be a solution to meeting shortfalls identified as is further explored within the action plan.






PART 6: ACTION PLAN Introduction The site-by-site action plan list seeks to address key issues identified in the accompanying Assessment Report. It provides recommendations based on current levels of usage, quality and future demand, as well as the potential of each site for enhancement. It should be reviewed in the light of staff and financial resources in order to prioritise support for strategically significant provision and provision that other providers are less likely to make. Recommendation e below explains the hierarchy of priorities on the list. It is imperative that action plans for priority projects should be developed through the implementation of the strategy. The Council should make it a high priority to work with NGBs and other partners to comprise a priority list of actions based on local priorities, NGB priorities and available funding. Recommendation e - Adopt a tiered approach (hierarchy of provision) to the management and improvement of sites To allow for facility developments to be prioritised and programmed within a phased approach a tiered model to for the improvement of playing pitch sites and associated facilities is useful. The identification of sites is based on their strategic importance in a Borough-wide context i.e. they accommodate the majority of demand or the recommended action has the greatest impact on addressing shortfalls identified either on a sport by sport basis or across the Borough as a whole. Recommended tiered site criteria:

Hub sites Key sites Local sites Reserve sites

Strategically located. Priority sites for NGB.

Strategically located within the analysis area.

Services the local community. Likely to include education sites.

Services the local community.

Accommodates three or more good quality grass pitches.

Including provision of at least one AGP.

Accommodates two or more good quality grass pitches.

Accommodates more than one pitch.

Likely to be single-pitch site.

Single or multi-sport provision.

Could also operate as a central venue.


Could also operate as a central venue.


Supports informal demand and/ or training etc.

Maintenance regime aligns with NGB guidelines.

Maintenance regime aligns with NGB guidelines.

Standard maintenance regime either by the club or in-house maintenance contract.

Basic level of maintenance i.e. grass cutting.

Good quality ancillary facility on site, with sufficient changing rooms and car parking to serve the number of pitches.

Good quality ancillary facility on site, with sufficient changing rooms and car parking to serve the number of pitches.

Appropriate access changing to accommodate both senior and junior use concurrently (if required).

No requirement for access changing to accommodation.



Hub sites are of Borough wide importance where users are willing to travel to access the range and high quality of facilities offered and are likely to be multi sport. These have been identified on the basis of high impact on addressing the issues identified in the assessment. The financial, social and sporting benefits which can be achieved through development of strategic sites (also known as hub sites) are significant. Sport England provides further guidance on the development of community sports hubs at: http://www.sportengland.org/facilities__planning/planning_tools_and_guidance/sports_hubs.aspx Where development of Hub Sites includes provision of 3G pitches for football it is recommended that further modelling/feasibility work is carried out to ensure sustainability of new 3G pitches to accommodate competitive fixtures. However, as a priority consultation should be carried out with leagues/clubs to gauge acceptance/buy in of moving competitive play to 3G pitches in the future. Key sites although these sites are more community focused, some are still likely to service a wider analysis area (or slightly wider). However, there may be more of a focus on a specific sport i.e. a dedicated site. It is considered that some financial investment will be necessary to improve the ancillary facilities at both Hub sites and Key Centres to complement the pitches in terms of access, flexibility (i.e. single-sex changing if necessary), quality and that they meet the rules and regulations of local competitions. Local sites refer to those sites which are generally one and two pitch sites and may be Council owned hired to clubs for a season or are sites which have been leased on a long-term basis. However, they are also likely to be private club sites serving one particular sport. The level of priority attached to them for Council-generated investment may be relatively low and consideration should be given, on a site-by-site basis, to the feasibility of a club taking a long-term lease on the site (if not already present), in order that external funding can be sought. It is possible that sites could be included in this tier which are not currently hired or leased to a club, but have the potential to be leased to a suitable club. NGBs would expect the facility to be transferred in suitable condition for the club to maintain. In the longer term, the club should be in a position to source external funding to improve/extend the facilities. Reserve sites could be used as overspill for neighbouring sites and/or for summer matches, competitions, training or informal play. They are most likely to be single-pitch sites with no ancillary facilities or school sites where there is no current demand for community use.

http://www.sportengland.org/facilities__planning/planning_tools_and_guidance/sports_hubs.aspx

http://www.sportengland.org/facilities__planning/planning_tools_and_guidance/sports_hubs.aspx



Management and development The following issues should be considered when undertaking sports related site development or enhancement: Financial viability. Security of tenure. Planning permission requirements and any foreseen difficulties in securing permission. Adequacy of existing finances to maintain existing sites. Business Plan/Masterplan – including financial package for creation of new provision

where need has been identified. Analysis of the possibility of shared site management opportunities. The availability of opportunities to lease sites to external organisations. Options to assist community groups to gain funding to enhance existing provision. Negotiation with landowners to increase access to private strategic sites. Availability of funding for hub site development. Impact on all sports that use a site regardless of the sport that is the subject of

enhancements. Action plan columns Partners The column indicating Partners refers to the main organisation that the Council will liaise with in helping to deliver the actions. The next stage in the development of the action plan will be to agree a Lead Partner to help deliver the actions. Site hierarchy tier and priority level Although Strategic Sites are mostly likely to have a high priority level as they have Borough wide importance, high priority sites have been identified on the basis of the impact that the site will have on addressing the key issues identified in the assessment and therefore some Key Centres are also identified as having a high priority level. It is these projects/sites which should generally be addressed within the short term (1-2 years). It is recommended that as the Steering Group reviews and updates the action plan that medium and low priority sites are then identified as the next level of sites for attention. As a guide, it is recommended that: Key centres are a medium priority and have analysis area importance and have been identified on the basis of the impact that the site will have on addressing the issues identified in the assessment. Low priority sites are club or education sites with local specific importance and have been identified on a site by site basis as issues appertaining to individual sites but that may also contribute to addressing the issues identified in the assessment



Costs The strategic actions have also been ranked as low, medium or high based on cost. The brackets in which these sit are: (L) -Low - less than £50k; (M) -Medium - £50k-£250k; (H) -High £250k and above. These are based on Sport England’s estimated facility costs which can be found at www.sportengland.org/media/198443/facility-costs-4q13.pdf Timescales The action plan has been created to be delivered over a ten year period. The information within the Assessment Report, Strategy and Action Plan will require updating as developments occur. The timescales relate to delivery times and are not priority based. Timescales: (S) -Short (1-2 years); (M) - Medium (3-5 years); (L) - Long (6+ years). Aim Each action seeks to meet at least one of the three aims of the Strategy; Enhance, Provide, Protect.

http://www.sportengland.org/media/198443/facility-costs-4q13.pdf



NORTH AREA SUMMARY Headline findings



North Shortfall of two youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.




13

North Affiliated team training demand is presently met.

Affiliated team training demand is able to be met.

Rugby union North Demand is presently met. Demand is able to be met.



Cricket North



North No current club demand in the Area.

No anticipated club demand in the Area.






Athletics Borough wide Demand is able to be met subject to required qualitative improvements.


12

Future demand based on ONS calculations and club consultation which also includes latent and displaced demand identified. 13

Based on accommodating 42 teams to one full size pitch for training.


June 2017 Strategy: Knight Kavanagh & Page

56

Site

ID

Site Sport Management Current status Recommended actions Lead

Partners

Site hierarchy

tier

Priority Timescales14

Cost

15 Aim

9 Barton Clough Playing Fields

Football Council Two adult pitches, one youth 11v11, one youth 9v9 and one mini 7v7, all rated as standard quality. Available for community use and used by Urmston Town JFC. Actual spare capacity at peak time of 1.5 adult and 0.5 youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week.

Sustain and improve pitch quality through continued and improved maintenance regime.

Explore local demand for community use to reduce overplay on other sites.

Council

FA

Local Low L L Protect &

Enhance

51 Highfield Park Football Council One youth 9v9, one mini 7v7 and one mini 5v5, all rated as poor quality. Available for community use. Youth 9v9 is at capacity. Mini 5v5 and Mini 7v7 have spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week per week, there is no actual spare capacity during peak period.

Seek to improve the current pitch quality through an improved maintenance programme.

Council

FA

Local Low S L Enhance

52 Hullard Park Bowls Council One green rated as good quality, which is utilised by Hullard Park BC.

Continue to maintain the green to a good quality. Ensure that usage does not adversely affect the green quality.

Council

Club

Local Low L L Protect

60 Longford Park Bowls Council Two greens rated both rated as standard quality. The greens have capacity to accommodate increased play.

Sustain the current pitch quality through continued maintenance.

Council Key

Low L L Protect

Football One youth 11v1, one youth 9v9 and one youth 7v7 all rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Each with one match equivalent session per week actual spare capacity available. Reported issues regarding accessing changing provision in the community centre onsite.

Retain current pitch quality through a consistent maintenance regime. Explore local demand for community use to reduce overplay on other sites.

Seek to improve changing provision and consider expansion to alleviate congestion.

Council

FA

Medium S/M M Protect & Enhance

Tennis Six macadam courts rated as poor quality. Available for community use but no floodlighting. One of five identified park hub sites, with additional footprint to accommodate the development of additional courts. Heritage Lottery Fund bid to be submitted for the development of the park, inclusive of sports facilities.

Resurface the courts to address poor quality. Capital investment required.

Look to install floodlighting to broaden opportunities for recreational and community play.

Consider implementation of the Clubspark system to generate revenue, track court usage and develop a sinking fund for future sustainability.

Consider potential to increase the number of courts in future.

Council

LTA

High S/M M Enhance

14

(S) -Short (1-2 years); (M) - Medium (3-5 years); (L) - Long (6+ years) 15

(L) -Low - less than £50k; (M) -Medium - £50k-£250k; (H) -High £250k and above



57

Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

17 Aim

60 Longford Park Athletics Council/

Sports Club

Standard quality six lane track last resurfaced in 1989. Home site of Trafford AC but also used by Manchester Triathlon Club and Parkrun as well as for all-ability cycling. Areas of the track and the spectator stand are in need of repair. Club keen to take on full management of the site and to renegotiate the lapsed management agreement. Issues regarding the poor quality car park surface which services the athletics facilities but is located within the main park, with no links regarding upkeep and maintenance.

Secure long-term security of tenure for the Club through asset transfer or leasehold on the condition it can evidence ability to sustain the asset.

As part of such discussion, ensure needed qualitative improvements and repairs are made prior to any transfer of responsibility in fit and usable condition.

Seek to improve surface quality of car park and establish and co-ordinated way forward between club and Council regarding maintenance and upkeep.

Council Key

High S L-M Protect

Enhance

62 Lostock College Football School One adult pitch rated as poor quality. Not available for community use. The pitch is disused due a there being no goal posts. No actual spare capacity.

Consider whether the pitch is required for curriculum use. Retain the pitch for potential reinstatement if required.

School Reserve Low S L Protect

Tennis Four macadam courts rated as poor quality. Not available for community use.

Seek to improve the court quality to accommodate some curriculum use. Explore local demand for community use.

School

LTA

Low L L Enhance

63 Lostock Park Bowls Council One pitch rated as good quality. The green is used by Lostock Park BC.

Sustain the current pitch quality ensuring that the surface does not deteriorate with continued community use.

Council Local Low L L Protect

Football Three adult pitches all rated as poor quality. Available for community use. The pitches have spare actual capacity totalling three match equivalent sessions per week.

Seek to improve the current pitch quality through an improved maintenance programme. Explore local demand for community use to reduce overplay on other sites.

Council Low S L Enhance

68 Metro Sports & Social Club

Bowls Sports Club One pitch rated as good quality. The green is the home venue of Metro Sports & Social BC and the demand surpasses the recommended number.

Sustain the current pitch quality ensuring that the surface quality is monitored and does not deteriorate with continued community use.

Club Local Low L L Protect

76 Old Trafford Bowling Club

Bowls Sports Club One pitch rated as good quality and is home of Old Trafford BC.

Sustain the current green quality and monitor that surface quality does not deteriorate from overuse.


77 Old Trafford Cricket Ground

Cricket Sports Club A good quality natural grass pitch with 16 wickets. The pitch is the home of Lancashire CCC and community use is restricted.

Continue the current maintenance programme to ensure that pitch remains of a standard to continue to accommodate first-class standard cricket.

ECB/LCCB

Club


78 Old Trafford Sports Barn

AGP Trust One half size, short-pile 3G AGP. The pitch is floodlit, standard quality and is used by Longford Girls U17 team for training one hour per week.

Retain the pitch for community use, whilst also ensuring that deterioration of the playing surface is avoided through continued maintenance.

Seek to resolve issues regarding land ownership and maintenance responsibility.

Trust Local Low L L Protect

16





58

Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

17 Aim

92 Seymour Park Football Council One adult pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Has actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions at peak time.

Continue with the current maintenance regime to ensure that pitch quality does not deteriorate.


95 St Ann's RC Primary School

Football School One mini 7v7 rated as standard quality. Not available for community use. No actual spare capacity.

Retain the pitch quality through ongoing maintenance. Explore local demand for community use, ensuring that quality is not compromised for curriculum use.

School Reserve Low L L Protect

97 St Bride’s Park Cricket Council One cricket square with five, poor quality natural grass wickets. The site is the home venue for Old Trafford CC. There is no actual spare capacity available at peak time for adult cricket.

Seek to improve pitch quality through a more stringent and complete maintenance programme.

Ensure that the outfield does not deteriorate through continued football use. Monitor the progress of ancillary facilities servicing the pitch to ensure that cricket can continue to be played on site.

Council

ECB/LCCB

Club

Local Low M L Enhance

Football One adult pitch, one youth 9v9, one mini 7v7 all rated as standard quality. The pitches are available for community use. Each pitch has the spare capacity of one match session.

Continue with the existing maintenance regime to retain pitch quality.

Council Low L L Protect

102 Stretford Cricket Club

Cricket Sports Club A standard quality natural grass cricket square with 16 wickets. The pitch has potential capacity for 23 additional match equivalent sessions per week but does not have any actual spare capacity available at peak time.

Continue with the current maintenance programme, seeking to improve pitch quality where possible.

Club

ECB/LCCB

Council


103 Stretford Grammar School

Cricket School Two standalone NTPs which are poor quality and disused. The pitches receive neither curriculum nor community use.

Consider whether local demand requires the pitches in current format. Explore potential options for future use of the pitches.

School Local Low S L Provide

Football One adult and one youth 9v9 both rated as poor quality. The adult pitch is not available for community use however unused, whilst the youth 9v9 pitch is available for community use. No actual spare capacity exists on the football pitches

Seek to improve pitch quality through an enhanced maintenance programme. Retain the pitches for curriculum use whilst also exploring local demand for community use. Ensure that pitch quality is not adversely affected by community use to the detriment of curricular and extra-curricular activities.

School Low S L Enhance

Rugby union

One adult pitch rated as M1/D0 quality. Not available for community use. Has actual spare capacity for 0.5 match equivalent sessions.

Seek to improve the pitch quality through an enhanced maintenance programme. Consider installing pipe drainage to improve pitch quality. Explore local demand for community use.

School Low M L Protect

Tennis Four tarmac pitches rated as good quality. All are available for community use but not floodlit.

Retain courts for curriculum use, ensuring that court quality is maintained. Continue to explore local demand for community use.

School Low L L Protect



59

Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

17 Aim

113 Turn Moss Football Council One adult pitch rated as poor quality, one youth 11v11 rated as poor quality, one youth 9v9 rated as poor quality and one mini 7v7 rated as standard/poor quality. Available for community use. The adult pitch has the spare capacity of 6 match equivalent sessions per week. The youth 9v9 has discounted actual spare capacity to protect pitch quality. The mini 7v7 has actual spare capacity of one match session. The youth 11v11 is overplayed by 1.5 match equivalent sessions per week.

Consider potential to develop the site as a football hub site, with consideration to be given to potential for inclusion of other sports within a possible hub site offer.

Improve pitch quality through an enhanced maintenance regime.

Council

FA

SE

Key

(potential hub)

High L M Enhance&

Provide

Gaelic sports

Two Gaelic sports pitches subject to waterlogging given location within a flood zone of the River Mersey. Often unusable.

Seek to improve pitch quality through improved maintenance, particularly increased aeration and possible installation of dedicated drainage systems.

L L Protect & Enhance

117 Victoria Park Bowls Council Two good quality bowling greens. Current usage by Victoria Park BC and Victoria Park Vets. There is enough spare capacity to accommodate an additional 62 members.

Sustain the current green quality through an ongoing maintenance programme. Explore whether two greens are sustainable on the same site.

Council Local Low M L Protect

Tennis Three macadam courts rated as poor quality, none of which are floodlit. Available for community use.

Seek to improve the court quality through an improved maintenance regime. Continue to make the courts available for community use.

Council

LTA

Low L L Enhance

129 Stretford High School (Stretford Sports Village – Talbot Centre)

AGP School/Trust One full size, medium pile 3G pitch which is floodlit and available for community use. The pitch is deemed to be standard quality.

Continue to maintain the pitch to an appropriate standard, ensuring that quality does not deteriorate through either increased community use or reduced maintenance.

School

Trust


Football One adult pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Has actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions.

Continue with the current maintenance regime to retain pitch quality. Consider formalising a community use agreement to provide security of tenure over the pitch.

School

Club

Medium L L Protect

Tennis Three macadam courts rated as standard quality. Not available for community use.

Retain surface quality for curriculum use. Explore local demand for community use.


137 Victoria Park Junior School

Football School One mini 7v7 rated as standard quality. Available for community use although currently unused. Spare capacity discounted due to being an unused school site and level of curriculum use unknown.

Retain pitch quality through ongoing maintenance, ensuring that quality does not deteriorate, adversely affecting curriculum use. Explore whether local demand exists for community use of the pitch.




CENTRAL AREA SUMMARY



Central Demand is presently met. Shortfall of 5.5 youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.



19

Central Shortfall of two full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use to accommodate affiliated team training demand.


Rugby union Central Shortfall of 3.75 senior match equivalent sessions per week per week.




Cricket Central



Central Shortfall of at least one full sized floodlit AGP available for community use in the Central Area to re-accommodate Sale HC in the Borough.

Shortfall of at least one full sized floodlit AGP available for community use in the Central Area to re-accommodate Sale HC in the Borough.

Potential shortfall could rise to two pitches should increases in participation be realised as increased peak time demand.




18










20

Future demand based on ONS calculations and club consultation which also includes latent and displaced demand identified.



Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

22 Aim

6 Ashton on Mersey Health & Fitness Centre

AGP School/Trust One small sized medium pile 3G which is not floodlit. The pitch is available for community use and assessed as standard quality.

Continue with current maintenance programme to retain pitch quality. Explore the possibility of installing floodlights to potentially accommodate training demand for mini teams.

School

Trust


Football One adult and one youth 9v9 pitch both rated at standard quality. Both pitches are available for community use however the youth 9v9 is unused. The adult pitch has no actual spare time capacity due to being overplayed. The youth 9v9 has actual spare capacity of one match equivalent session. Pitches are also subject to curriculum use

Retain pitch quality through continued maintenance. Consider allocating one of the youth 9v9 pitches as an adult pitch to reduce the current overplay on this pitch at type at this site.

School

Trust

Low S L Protect & Provide

Rugby union

One senior pitch rated as M1/D1. Available for community use. Has actual spare capacity of one match session but currently unused.

Retain the pitch for curriculum use, ensuring that pitch quality remains consistent through a continued maintenance programme. Explore local demand for community use.

School

Trust

Low L L Protect

Tennis Four tarmac courts rated as standard quality and not floodlit. Available for community use.

Sustain current court quality with ongoing maintenance. Ensure that the courts continue to be available for curriculum and community use.

School

Trust

Low L L Protect

7 Ashton Park Bowls Council Two greens rated as good quality. The site is the home venue of Ashton Park Vets BC with spare capacity for an additional 62 members.

Continue to maintain the greens to the current quality. Consider the sustainability of two greens on the site given the current number of members currently utilising the greens.

Council Local Low M L Protect

Football One youth 11v11 and one youth 9v9 both rated as standard quality. Both pitches are available for community use however the youth 11v11 is unused. The youth 11v11 has actual spare capacity of one match session. The youth 9v9 is overplayed by 0.5 match equivalent sessions.

Sustain current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Consider reallocating the youth 11v11 pitch to youth 9v9 size to reduce overplay on the current pitch of this type on this site.

Council Low S L Protect & Provide

Tennis Two macadam courts rated as good quality. Available for community use.

Sustain current court quality by continuing the current maintenance regime.


8 Ashton-on-Mersey Cricket Club

Cricket Sports Club One pitch rated as good quality. 13 natural turf wickets. Available for community use. The pitch has potential spare capacity of 4 match equivalent sessions per week per season, however no actual spare capacity exists at senior peak time. Changing rooms on the site require modernisation to allow for continued club development.

Continue with the current maintenance regime to ensure that pitch quality is sustained. Develop the ancillary facilities to modernise the changing facilities to allow separate junior/senior and male/female changing.

Club

ECB/CCB

Local Low L M Protect & Enhance

Tennis Three macadam courts rated as standard quality. Available for community use.

Retain current court quality through continued maintenance. Continue to explore local demand for community use.

Club Low L L Protect

21





Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

22 Aim

20 Brooklands Sports Club

AGP Sports Club One water based, full size AGP which is good quality. The pitch was refurbished in 2016 and is a home venue for Brooklands Poynton and Brooklands MU hockey clubs. The pitch is floodlit and has limited spare capacity.

Continue with current maintenance regime to sustain pitch quality. Continue to make the pitch available for community use, ensuring that both hockey clubs are provided with adequate training and match play capacity.

Club EH

Key Low L L Protect

Cricket Two pitches rated as good quality. One has 12 natural turf wickets available and the other has 7 natural turf wickets available. The pitches are available for community use and accumulatively have 0.5 match equivalent sessions of actual spare capacity available during senior peak time. Ancillary facilities require updating to meet league regulations, whilst one pitch does not have appropriate changing facilities within a required range of the pitch.

Continue with the current maintenance programme to sustain the pitch quality. Seek to develop the ancillary facilities in order to meet league regulations and explore options to develop changing facilities within appropriate proximity to the second pitch.

Club

ECB/CCB

Low L M Protect & Enhance

Lacrosse Three lacrosse pitches marked on the outfield areas of the two cricket pitches onsite.

Ensure high standard of maintenance as required in order to accommodate both lacrosse and cricket without impacting on quality.

Club

English Lacrosse

Low L L Protect

Tennis Ten artificial surface courts of good quality, six of which are floodlit. Three grass courts rated as standard quality, none of which are floodlit. Available for community use.

Retain court quality through continued maintenance. If demand for floodlit courts exceeds the supply, explore possibilities of installing floodlights on non-floodlit courts.

Club

LTA

Low L L Protect

24 Cecil Avenue Football Council Three adult and one youth 9v9 pitch all rated at standard quality. The pitches are available for community use although currently unused. The adult pitches have actual spare capacity of three match equivalent sessions per week. The youth 9v9 pitch has actual spare capacity of one match session.

Sustain current pitch quality with continued maintenance. Explore the local demand for these pitches to reduce overplay on other pitches in the Borough.


29 Crossford Bridge Cricket Sports Association

One pitch rated as standard quality. Seven natural turf wickets. Has potential capacity of 11 match equivalent sessions per week per season but currently has no actual spare capacity at peak time.

Sustain the current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Ensure that pitch quality does not deteriorate with continued community use.

Council

Clubs

FA

England Athletics

ECB/CCB

Key

(potential hub)

Low L L Protect

Football Three adult pitches rated as good/standard quality. Five mini 7v7 pitches rated as good quality. Two youth 9v9 pitches rated as standard quality. All are available for community use. Adult and youth 9v9 pitches have no actual spare capacity during peak period. Mini 7v7 has actual spare capacity of one match equivalent session. Home venue for Sale United and Old Altrinchamians FC.

Consider potential of the site as a strategic location to create a new full sized 3G pitch with floodlighting.

Ensure that current pitch quality is not depreciated through community use. Continue with the current maintenance regime, seeking to make improvements where possible. Ensure that ancillary facilities continue to meet minimum standards for league requirements, particularly for Old Altrinchamians FC who play at Step 7 in the football pyramid.

Low L L Protect



Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

22 Aim

29 Crossford Bridge Athletics Poor quality track built in 1910 which no known full refurbishment beyond areas of repair over time. Seven lane cinder surface used mainly for younger age junior participation and novice level adult runners. Historic home base of Sale Manchester Harriers AC though the majority of club participation takes place across two sites in Manchester.

Establish feasibility of the Club through Crossford Bridge Management Association taking on full management and maintenance of the track, subject to securing long-term tenure. Leasehold or asset transfer should consider the site as a whole and opportunities for development of sport provision made possible as a result.

Seek to resurface the track to improve quality for use.

Increase track usage should it be resurfaced given level of use in relation to usage levels of other tracks in Trafford and Manchester.

Council

Clubs

FA

England Athletics

ECB/CCB

Key

(potential hub)

High S-M H Protect

Enhance

33 Firs Primary School Football School One mini 7v7 and one mini 5v5 both rated as standard quality. Not available for community use. Neither pitch has actual spare capacity during peak period.

Sustain current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Explore local demand for community use.


54 Jacksons Boat Ground

Football Pub One adult pitch rated as poor quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity has been discounted to protect the pitch quality. Home of Park Villa FC.

Seek to improve the pitch quality through an enhanced maintenance schedule.

Pub

Club

Local Low S L Enhance

57 Leigh Arms Bowls Pub One green rated as good quality. Home venue for Leigh Arms BC

Sustain the current green quality through a continued maintenance programme. Ensure that surface quality does not deteriorate through overuse.

Pub

Club


58 Lime Tree Primary Academy

Football School One mini 7v7 pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use although currently unused. Actual spare capacity discounted to protect pitch quality.

Retain pitch for curriculum use. Ensure that pitch quality does not deteriorate and continue to make the pitch available for community use.


65 Manor Avenue Football Council Two adult football pitches rated as poor quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity discounted to protect pitch quality. The ancillary facilities on the site are deemed good quality, but there are only two changing rooms which is insufficient to serve two pitches. Proposals by Sale West & Ashton Partnership to develop a new community centre onsite subject to planning approval, potentially with additional car parking.

Seek to improve pitch quality through better and more regular maintenance.

Liaise with Sale West & Ashton Partnership to understand proposals for a new community centre and establish potential impact on football users, including exploration of opportunities to develop additional changing provisions to serve the pitches.

Council

FA

Local Low S L/M Enhance

69 Moor Nook Park Bowls Council One green rated as good quality. Sustain the current green quality by continuing with the maintenance regime.


Football One adult and one youth 11v11 pitch both rated as poor quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity of 0.5 sessions to protect pitch quality on both pitches.

Seek to improve pitch quality through an enhanced maintenance regime. Ensure that community use does not detrimentally affect pitch quality.


Tennis Two tarmac courts rated as poor quality. Available for community use.

Consider potential for capital investment to resurface courts in order to improve quality.

Council Low L M Enhance

84 Sale Conservatives Bowling Club

Bowls Private One green rated as good quality. Home venue of Sale Cons BC.

Sustain the current green quality by continuing with the maintenance regime.




Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

22 Aim

85 Sale Excelsior WMC Bowls Private One green rated as standard quality. Home venue of Sale Excelsior BC.

Sustain the current green quality by continuing with the maintenance regime. Ensure that the surface quality is not detrimentally effected by overplay.


86 Sale Football Club Rugby union

Sports Club One senior floodlit pitch rated as good quality. The pitch is not used for training only matches, however is shared by Swinton Lions RLFC and used for rugby league through January to October.

Sustain pitch quality with current maintenance regime. Ensure that time is allowed for annual remedial work to take place despite the continual use throughout the year.


87 Sale Grammar School

AGP School One good quality, full size, medium pile 3G not available for community use and not floodlit.

Sustain current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Explore local demand for community use and consider installing floodlights to coincide with community use.


Football One adult and one youth 9v9 pitch both rated as standard quality. Not available for community use.

Retain both pitches for curriculum use, sustaining current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Explore local demand for community use.


Rugby union

One senior pitch rated as standard quality. No actual spare capacity as the pitch is unavailable for community use.

Retain the current pitch quality for curriculum use. Explore local demand for community use.


Tennis Four macadam courts rated as standard quality. Not available for community use.

Retain the courts for curriculum use whilst sustaining the current level of quality. Explore whether local demand would deem community use beneficial.


88 Sale High School Cricket School One standalone NTP of standard quality. Available for community use.

Retain the pitch quality for curriculum use and continue to explore local demand for community use.

School Local Low L L Protect

Football One adult and one youth 9v9 both rated as standard quality. One youth 11v11 rated as poor quality. All pitches are available for community use and all are overplayed.

Seek to improve pitch quality by improving the current maintenance regime. Ensure that continued overplay does not adversely affect curriculum use of the pitches.

School Low M L Protect

89 Sale Sports Club Main Ground

Cricket Sports Club One cricket square with 13 natural grass wickets and an additional NTP lying alongside the square. The pitch is deemed good quality. There is no actual spare capacity available during the peak period for senior cricket. The ancillary facilities require improvement to accommodate current and future demand of the sports club.

Sustain the current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Develop the ancillary facilities to a fitting standard in order to accommodate the current and future demand of the multi-sports club. Ensure that site developments do not adversely affect the pitch quality.

Club

ECB/CCB

Key Medium M M Protect & Enhance

Football One youth 9v9 and one mini 7v7 both rated as good quality and available for community use. Youth 9v9 has no current play and actual spare capacity of one match session. Mini 7v7 has no spare capacity during peak period.

Sustain the pitch quality by continuing with the current maintenance programme. Ensure that pitch use does not have a detrimental effect on the cricket outfield on which the pitches are marked.


Tennis Three artificial courts with floodlights rated as good quality. Three macadam courts with floodlights rated as good quality. Available for community use.

Ensure that court quality is maintained and that quality is not diminished through site developments.

Club

LTA

Low L L Protect



Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

22 Aim

90 Sale Sports Club (Clarendon Crescent)

Football Sports Club Two youth 11v11 pitches both rated as poor quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week is discounted to protect pitch quality.

Seek to improve pitch quality through an improved maintenance regime. Continue to protect the pitch from overuse until pitch quality improves.

Council

Club

Key Low L L Enhance

Rugby union

One senior pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use but no actual spare capacity at peak time. Poor quality goalposts in need of replacement. A second rugby union pitch has since been reconfigured for football but accommodates some ad hoc training from Manchester Village Spartans RFC. Aspirations to floodlight the remaining pitch for matches and training to accommodate growth.

Sustain and improve pitch quality through improved and more regular maintenance.

Subject to renegotiation of the lease, explore potential to install floodlights on the rugby union pitch to allow for use for training and to accommodate future growth. For example, potential for the third team to play more regularly as Friday night floodlit matches, as these matches are presently staggered on Saturday afternoons.

Council

Club

RFU

Low L L Protect

AGP Subject to renegotiating the lease to secure long-term tenure, Sale HC and Sale Sports Club has aspirations to create a new sand based AGP with floodlighting onsite. This would mean the Club could again be accommodated in Trafford and would no longer have displaced all demand to Manchester. Development would be primarily funded by revenue generated through the partial sale of the main sports club ground opposite. This would link to plans to develop changing and ancillary provision at the main club site as part of a phased development across the two sites.

Renegotiate the previous lease at Clarendon Crescent which is presently on an annual rolling arrangement, securing long term tenure for in excess of 20 years.

Support the Club with plans to develop both the main and Clarendon Crescent sites, including potential to access external funding towards AGP and ancillary provision.

Council

Club

EH

High M H Enhance

Provide

93 Smith Fields Football Council One adult, five mini 5v5 and two mini 7v7 all rated as standard quality. Available for community use. The adult pitch is overplayed. The mini 5v5 has actual spare capacity of five match equivalent sessions per week. The mini 7v7 pitches have no actual spare capacity. The site is home to most Unicorn FC teams.

Retain the current pitch quality by continuing with the current maintenance programme. Ensure that training continues to not take place on match pitches. Explore whether demand requires reallocation of mini 5v5 pitches to other pitch sizes to accommodate future demand.

Council

Club

Local Low M L Protect

108 The Linden Pub Bowls Pub One green rated as good quality. Retain the current quality of the green by continuing with the maintenance programme.

Pub Local Low L L Protect



Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

24 Aim

112 Trafford Metrovicks RFC

Cricket Sports Club One natural turf cricket square rated as standard quality. Eight natural turf wickets with an NTP lying alongside the natural grass square. The pitch is available for community use and despite having potential spare capacity; no actual spare capacity exists during the peak period.

Sustain the current pitch quality by continuing with the current maintenance programme, seeking to make improvements where possible.


Rugby union

Three senior pitches all rated as good quality and available for community use. Two pitches are overplayed by an accumulative 4.75 match equivalent sessions whilst the other is at capacity. One pitch is used for Gaelic football.

Sustain current pitch quality by continuing with the current maintenance regime. Consider increasing floodlighting either on a dedicated training area to alleviate training use of the pitch, or floodlighting of a second pitch to spread training across greater area. Ensure that continued high volume of use does not detrimentally effect pitch quality.

Club Medium L L-M Protect

Provide

Gaelic sports

One gaelic sports pitch, subject to waterlogging as a flood zone of the River Mersey.

Improve pitch quality and aerate regularly in order to ensure pitch is able to drain as well as possible.


Enhance

118 Walton Park Bowls Council Two greens rated as standard quality. Home venue of Walton Park BC and Walton Park Vets.

Seek to sustain the quality of the greens by continuing with the current maintenance regime. Ensure that quality is not diminished through overplay.

Council

Club


Football One adult and one youth 9v9 pitch both rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Adult pitch has actual spare capacity of one match session. Youth 9v9 has actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week.

Retain current pitch quality by continuing with the current maintenance regime.


Tennis Two macadam courts rated as standard quality and not floodlit. Available for community use.

Retain the courts for community use, sustain court quality and seeking to make improvements where possible.


119 Walton Park Sports Centre

AGP Community Organisation

Three small sized short pile AGPs which are rated as standard quality.

Sustain current pitch quality through continued maintenance.

Community Organisation


Tennis Two macadam courts rated as standard quality. Available for community use.

Sustain current court quality through continued maintenance.

Community Organisation

Low L L Protect

120 Weathercock Farm Football Council Two adult pitches rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity of 1.5 match equivalent sessions per week.

Continue with the current maintenance programme to sustain pitch quality. Consider relocating teams from overplayed pitches to utilise actual spare capacity available at this site.

Council FA


122 Wellfield Junior School

Football School One mini 7v7 and one mini 5v5 rated as standard quality. Available for community use. The 7v7 is at capacity. The 5v5 has actual spare capacity of one match session.

Ensure that the pitch quality is retained for curriculum use, checking that the pitch quality is not detrimentally effected by continued community use.


23





Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

24 Aim

125 Woodheys Primary School

AGP School One short pile 3G which is small sized, not floodlit and of standard quality. The pitch is available for community use but is currently unused.

Sustain the current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Continue to explore local demand for community use.


Football Two mini 7v7 pitches rated as standard quality. Available for community use although currently unused. Spare capacity discounted due to being an unused school site and level of curriculum use unknown.

Retain the two pitches for curriculum use, sustaining the quality through continued maintenance. Continue to explore local demand for community use.


127 Worthington Park Bowls Council Two good quality greens. Sustain the current green quality by continuing with the current maintenance regime.


130 Sale Moor Cricket Club

Football Sports Club Three adult pitches rated as good/standard quality with actual spare capacity of three match equivalent sessions. Four mini 5v5 pitches rated as standard quality with actual spare capacity of 3.5 match equivalent sessions per week. Two mini 7v7 pitches rated as good quality with no actual spare capacity during peak period. Two youth 9v9 pitches rated as good quality with actual spare capacity of two match equivalent sessions per week. All are available for community use. The mini and youth pitches are overmarked on the three adult pitches. The venue is home of Brooklands Dragons JFC.

Sustain the current pitch quality with a continual maintenance regime. Ensure that the overmarking does not have a detrimental effect on pitch quality and that availability at peak time is retained.

Sports Club Local Low L L Protect

134 Selsey Avenue Playing Fields

Football Council One adult, two youth 11v11 and one youth 9v9 pitch all rated as poor quality. Available for community use. Adult and youth 11v11 pitch have actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week to protect pitch quality. The youth 11v11 has actual spare capacity discounted to protect pitch quality.

Seek to improve pitch quality through an improved maintenance regime. Ensure that pitches continue to be protected from overplay to stave off detrimental effects.

Council Local Low S L Enhance

136 Brentwood High School & Community School

Football School One youth 9v9 rated as standard quality. Available for community use although currently unused. Spare capacity discounted due to being an unused school site and level of curriculum use unknown.

Retain pitch quality through continued maintenance. Explore local demand for community use but ensure that pitch quality is protected for curriculum use.


139 Dainewell Park Football Council One adult and one youth 11v11 rated as standard quality. Available for community use however the adult pitch is unused. Adult has actual spare capacity of one match equivalent session. The youth 11v11 has no actual spare capacity during peak period.

Sustain current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Continue to explore local demand for community use and consider reallocating the pitch to an alternative size to accommodate overplay in the analysis area.


145 Holy Family Catholic Primary School

Football School One mini 7v7 pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week.

Retain pitch quality through continued maintenance. Ensure that community use does not negatively affect pitch quality.




Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

24 Aim

152 Brooklands Primary School

Football School Two youth 9v9 pitches rated as standard. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity of one match session.



154 Park Road Sale Primary School

Football School One mini 7v7 pitch rated as standard. Not available for community use.





SOUTH AREA SUMMARY



South Shortfall of four youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of one youth 9v9 match session per week.

Shortfall of two adult match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of ten youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.


Shortfall of three mini 7v7 match equivalent sessions per week per week.



26

South Shortfall of two full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use to accommodate affiliated team training demand.


Rugby union South Shortfall of 10.25 senior match equivalent sessions per week per week.




Cricket South Demand is presently met. Demand is able to be met.


South Demand for access to additional capacity for training use.





25










27




Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

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Cost

29 Aim

3 Altrincham Borough Bowling Club

Bowls Sports Club One green rated good quality. The green is the home venue of Altrincham Borough BC.

Sustain current green quality ensuring that surface quality does not deteriorate through overuse.


4 Altrincham College of Arts School

Tennis Council Three tarmac courts rated as standard quality. Not available for community use.

Retain the current court quality with continued maintenance. Explore local demand for community use whilst ensuring that this does not inhibit curriculum use.



Rugby union

Sports Club Three senior pitches rated as M1/D1, all available for community use and all are overplayed by an accumulative 5.5 match equivalent sessions. Quality of floodlighting on the main pitch is reported to be poor and will require replacement in time. Planning permission granted for the creation of an additional 58 car parking spaces on playing field land beside the first team pitch. This will help to alleviate parking on neighbouring streets and use of the Timperley Library car park as an overspill, itself due for redevelopment as a community hub.

Develop new car parking provision beside the first team pitch.

Seek to increase capacity through improvement to the maintenance regime and installation of drainage systems. Explore whether installation of pipe or pipe & slit drainage is viable.

Consider installation of additional floodlighting so that all three pitches are floodlit, in order to spread training demand across greater area. This would need to be supported through creation of additional capacity through qualitative improvements, whilst improvement to the quality of floodlighting on the main pitch will also be required.

Consider transferring some training demand from match pitches to reduce current levels of overplay, this may include to a potential World Rugby compliant 3G pitch proposed at The Grammar (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys) which the club has registered willingness to use.

Club

RFU

Local Medium S-M M Enhance

Provide

10 Beech Avenue Recreation Ground

Football Council Two adult, two youth 11v11 and one youth 9v9 all rated as standard quality and available for community use. Adult pitches have actual spare capacity of 1.5 match equivalent sessions per week. Youth 11v11 pitch does not have any actual spare capacity and the youth 9v9 pitch is overplayed.

Sustain the current pitch quality by continuing with the existing maintenance regime. Consider reducing the amount of play on the youth 9v9 size pitch to reduce overplay. Alternatively explore options of installing pipe drainage to improve pitch quality, increasing pitch capacity.

Council

FA

Local Low L L Protect & Enhance

Rugby union

Standard quality pitch without floodlighting. Used by Altrincham Kersal RFC as overspill from the neighbouring main site, though maintained by the Council. Capacity of 1.5 match equivalent sessions per week to accommodate addition use.

Make greater use of capacity available to alleviate levels of overplay at the neighbouring main club site.

Seek to improve pitch quality through increased and better maintenance to increase capacity available to do so.

Council

RFU

Low L L

28





Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

31 Aim

11 Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College

Rugby league

School One primary pitch which is at full capacity. One senior pitch which is overplayed by 1.5 match equivalent sessions. Both pitches are poor quality, are subject to curriculum use and are used by South Trafford Raiders RLFC. The only rugby league pitches which are used by a community club in Trafford.

Seek to improve current pitch quality through an improved maintenance regime. Ensure that the pitches remain available for both community and curriculum use. Consider relocating training demand off the match pitches to reduce overplay.

School

Club

RFL

Local Medium S L Enhance & Protect

12 Bowdon Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club

Bowls Sports Club One green rated good quality. Home of Bowdon BC which has 40 members.

Sustain the current green quality by continuing with the existing maintenance programme.


Tennis Three artificial turf courts and three clay surfaced courts, all rated as good quality. The venue is home of Bowdon Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club.

Continue to maintain the courts to the current quality through consistent maintenance. Continue to monitor whether the number of courts, floodlit or otherwise, does not impinge on club development or membership numbers.

Club

LTA

Low L L Protect

13 Bowdon Lawn Tennis Club

Tennis Sports Club Eight grass courts rated as standard quality. Two grass courts rated as poor quality. Five artificial turf courts rated as good quality, two of which have retractable floodlighting. Available for community use.

Seek to improve the quality of standard and poor courts. Sustain the current quality level of the good quality courts.

Club Local Low L L Enhance & Protect

14 Bowdon Cricket - Hockey & Squash Club

AGP Sport Club One full water based pitch rated as standard quality and available for community use. The pitch was built in 2001 and is therefore in excess of the recommended surface lifespan. The pitch is floodlit with an 8pm limit for floodlighting use. Bowdon Hockey Club has applied for permission to extend the time to 10pm during the week to accommodate increased training demand.

Monitor surface quality and rigorously maintain. Resurface the pitch when required as quality deteriorates naturally over time.

Continue to explore the possibility of extending floodlit hours and subsequent floodlit capacity available to accommodate increased amount of training that the Club feels is needed.

Club

EH

Council

Local Medium S M Protect, Enhance & Provide

14 Bowdon Cricket - Hockey & Squash Club

Cricket Sport Club One natural turf cricket square rated as good quality with 15 natural turf wickets. Available for community use. Overplayed by 35 sessions per season. There are plans to reduce the number of wickets by two with a view to improve the quality of the remaining wickets.

Sustain the current quality of the natural turf wickets to enable a high standard of cricket to be played. Explore the possibility of installing an NTP to accommodate some junior cricket, as well as shorter format versions.

Club

ECB/CCB

Local Medium S L Protect & Provide

Football One adult, one youth 9v9, one mini 7v7 and one mini 5v5 all rated as standard quality and available for community use. The adult and mini 7v7 pitch have no spare capacity during peak period. The mini 5v5 pitch has actual spare capacity of one match session. The youth 9v9 pitch is overplayed by 1.5 match equivalent sessions per week. All pitches are marked on a cricket outfield.

Sustain the current pitch quality by continuing with the maintenance programme. Seek to reduce the overplay on the youth 9v9 pitch by relocating some play to sites with actual spare capacity. Ensure that continued use of the pitches does not adversely affect the quality of the cricket outfield and that sufficient time is allowed for essential remedial work.


30





Site

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Site hierarchy

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Cost

33 Aim


Rugby union

Sports Club Four senior pitches, two rated as good quality and two rated as poor quality. Standard quality junior sized pitch also onsite, floodlit and heavily used for club training. All pitches are available for community use with poor quality pitches overplayed by 1.5 match equivalent sessions per week and the training pitch by 6.25 match equivalent sessions per week. Changing provision requires improvement and extension to better accommodate junior growth especially female rugby.

Support the Club with plans to reconfigure pitches, increase car parking capacity and improve quality and suitability of changing facilities for female rugby.

Seek to increase capacity through qualitative and drainage improvements to reduce and better sustain levels of overplay.

Explore options to install additional floodlighting in order to spread training demand across greater area. This would need to be supported through creation of additional capacity through qualitative improvements.

Consider transferring some training demand from match pitches to reduce current levels of overplay, this may include to a potential World Rugby compliant 3G pitch proposed at The Grammar (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys) which the club has registered willingness to use.

Club RFU

Local Medium L M Protect, Enhance & Provide

16 Bowdon Vale Cricket Club

Cricket Sports Club One natural turf cricket square rated as good quality with 15 natural turf wickets. Available for community use. Has spare capacity of 30 sessions per season and actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions during peak period time for senior play. Changing facilities need modernising to allow the Club to continue to develop.

Sustain the current pitch quality with continued maintenance. Seek to improve the changing facilities to accommodate all teams that play at the site and to allow the Club to continue to develop.

Club

ECB/CCB

Local Low M M Protect & Enhance

17 British Airways Club Silverwings

Bowls Private One green rated as standard quality. Retain current green quality by continuing with the current maintenance regime.

Company Reserve Low L L Protect

Tennis Three tarmac courts rated as standard quality. Unavailable for community use and not floodlit.

Retain court quality through continued maintenance. Explore local demand for community use. Ensure that a sinking fund is in place should resurfacing be required.

Company Low L L Protect

21 Broomwood Park AGP Trust One half size floodlit short pile 3G. Available for community use and of standard quality.

Retain the current quality of the pitch by continuing with the maintenance regime.


22 Budenberg BC Bowls Sports Club One green rated as good quality. Home venue of Budenberg BC

Retain the current green quality ensuring that surface quality does not deteriorate.


26 Claremont Lawn Tennis Club

Tennis Sports Club Four floodlit artificial turf courts rated as good quality and floodlit. Available for community use.

Retain court quality by continuing with a good quality maintenance regime.


32





Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

35 Aim

27 Cloverlea Primary School

Football School One mini 7v7 rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions.

Sustain the current pitch quality with ongoing maintenance. Ensure that community use does not adversely affect curriculum use. Consider establishing a formal community use agreement to increase security of tenure.


32 Devisdale Pitches AGP School Two full sized sand dressed pitches rated as standard quality. Available for community use at weekends only and are used by Bowdon HC for four matches per week. The pitches are not floodlit and cannot be safely used to play hockey concurrently due to no partition. The pitches are subject to curriculum use.

Continue to maintain the pitches to retain current quality, recognising the need to refurbish the surface in the near future. Explore the potential of installing floodlights and making the pitches available for community use on weekdays.

Establish potential to install a fixed fence between pitches to allow both to be safely used for hockey at once.

School

Club

EH

Local Medium M M Protect & Enhance

Tennis Six tarmac courts rated as standard quality. Used for curriculum use and available for community use. None are floodlit.

Retain court quality through continued maintenance. Continue to explore local demand for community use ensuring that this is not to the detriment of curriculum use.


41 Grove Park Football Council One youth 9v9 and one mini 7v7 pitch which are both standard quality. Three youth 11v11 pitches which are poor quality and overplayed by a total of four match equivalent sessions. None of the pitches have actual spare capacity. Home venue of Altrincham FC Juniors. The Club has aspirations to manage and maintain the venue.

Seek to improve pitch quality with an improved maintenance regime. Explore a formal community use agreement, long term lease or asset transfer to transfer responsibility for maintenance to the resident club. Consider relocating some teams to alternative sites with actual spare capacity to reduce overplay.

Council

Club

FA

Local Medium S L Protect & Provide

42 Hale Barns Cricket Club

Cricket Sports Club One natural turf cricket square rated as standard quality. 14 natural turf wickets. Available for community use. Has spare capacity of 23 sessions per season but no actual spare capacity at peak time for senior cricket. Changing rooms need to be adapted to accommodate separate senior/junior and male/female changing rooms.

Retain current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Seek to develop the ancillary facilities to accommodate separate changing rooms for senior/junior and male/female.

Club

ECB/CCB

Local Low M M Protect & Enhance

43 Hale Barns Tennis Club

Tennis Sports Club Five artificial turf courts rated as good quality. One court has floodlights. Available for community use.

Retain court quality by continuing the current maintenance programme. Explore ways of increasing membership numbers to enable the Club to be more sustainable.

Club

LTA


44 Hale Country Club & Spa

Tennis Commercial Three macadam courts rated as good quality. Not available for community use.

Sustain the current court quality and explore local demand for community use.

Company

LTA


34





Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

37 Aim

45 Halecroft Park Football Council One adult pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use. The pitch is at full capacity. The pitch is exclusively used by youth 11v11 teams.

Sustain the current pitch quality with a consistent maintenance regime. Consider reallocating the pitch as a youth 11v11 size pitch to appropriately accommodate the age of the teams using the site.


Tennis One macadam court rated as standard quality. Available for community use. There is poor access for disabled participants.

Continue maintaining the court to the current quality and improve quality here possible. Improve accessibility issues.

Council

LTA

Low L L Protect

46 Hale Lawn Tennis Club

Tennis Sports Club Nine artificial turf courts rated as good quality, four of which have floodlights. Available for community use. There is poor access for disabled participants.

Sustain the current court quality through an ongoing maintenance programme. Seek to improve access for the disabled. Ensure sinking funds are in place for court resurfacing.

Club

LTA


47 Hale Lawn Village Tennis Club

Tennis Sports Club Three artificial turf courts rated as good quality. Available for community use. Through supply and demand analysis it was noted that the Club currently has insufficient supply for the demand; this was not mentioned by the Club but should be monitored.

Sustain the current quality of the courts by continuing with the current maintenance schedule. Ensure that sinking funds are in place for court resurfacing and ensure that the high demand does not detrimentally effect the quality of the courts. Explore the possibility of installing floodlights on the existing courts to increase capacity.

Club LTA

Local Low L L Protect & Enhance

48 Hermitage Park Bowling Club

Bowls Council One green rated as good quality. The Council reports that the bowling club has been seeking Community Asset Transfer of the site.

Consider the case for Community Asset Transfer and sustainability.

Sustain the current green quality ensuring that the surface is not adversely affected by overplay.


49 Heyes Grove Tennis Club

Tennis Sports Club Six artificial turf courts rated as good quality, three of which have floodlights. Available for community use. The Club is hoping to add floodlighting to the remaining three courts.

Sustain the court quality with continued maintenance. Continue to explore options of adding floodlighting to the remaining three courts, however, if this is insurmountable explore funding options.

Club

LTA


55 John Leigh Park Bowls Council One green rated as good quality. Sustain the current green quality through ongoing maintenance.



Sustain the current court quality seeking to make improvements where possible. Explore options to make the site a hub for community tennis.

Council

LTA

Medium M L Protect & Enhance

59 LMRSA Bowling Club

Bowls Private One green rated as good quality. Sustain the current green quality through ongoing maintenance.


71 Moss Lane Football Council One adult pitch rated as good quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity of one match session. Home venue of Altrincham FC and must adhere to ground requirements of the league.

Retain the current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Ensure that the ancillary facilities and site as a whole continue to meet league requirements.


73 Navigation Hotel Bowls Pub One green rated as good quality. Sustain the current green quality through ongoing maintenance.


36





Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

37 Aim

74 Navigation Road Rec

Bowls Council One green rated as good quality. Home venue for Navigation BC which has 50 members.

Sustain the current green quality through ongoing maintenance.

Council

Club


Football One adult pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week.

Retain the current pitch quality, ensuring that the pitch can continue to meet the demand from all teams accessing the provision.

Council

Club

Low L L Protect

75 North Cestrian Grammar School Playing Fields

Cricket School One natural turf cricket square rated as standard quality. 5 natural turf wickets. Not available for community use.

Sustain the current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Explore local demand for community use.


Football One adult, one youth 11v11 and one youth 9v9 rated as poor quality. Unavailable for community use.



Rugby union

One senior pitch rated as poor quality. No actual spare capacity as the pitch is unavailable for community use.



81 Pickering Lodge Park

Bowls Council Two greens, both rated as good quality. Home venue for Pickering Lodge BC which currently has 70 members.

Sustain the current green level, ensuring that the surface quality does not deteriorate.

Club

Council



Sustain current court quality with continued maintenance.


82 Quarry Bank Inn Bowls Pub One green rated as good quality. Home venue of Quarry Bank BC which currently has 66 members.


Club

Pub


83 Riddings Road Bowls Council One green rated as standard quality. Home venue of Riddings BC which has 70 members.



Tennis Two macadam courts rated as standard quality. Available for community use.

Sustain current court quality with continued maintenance.


91 Salisbury Road Football Council One adult, one youth 11v11, four mini 7v7 pitches rated as standard quality. Two youth 9v9 pitches rated as poor quality. Available for community use however the youth 9v9 is unused. Adult pitch is overplayed. Mini 7v7 and youth 9v9 have no actual spare capacity during peak period. The youth 9v9 pitch have actual spare capacity of 1.5 match equivalent sessions per week to protect pitch quality.

Consider potential to secure long term tenure for Broadheath Central JFC given the Club’s aspirations for greater responsibility and self-management.

Sustain current pitch for the standard quality pitches. Seek to improve the poor quality youth 9v9 pitches through an improved maintenance regime or by installing pipe drainage. Alternatively consider marking an adult pitch in place of the two youth 9v9 pitches to alleviate overplay on this pitch type at this site.

Council Local Low L L Protect & Provide



Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost Aim

94 St Ambrose College Cricket School One natural turf square with two grass wickets and an NTP; in addition to one standalone NTP. All are unavailable for community use.

Sustain current pitch quality through continued maintenance and explore local demand for community use.


Football One youth 11v11 pitch rated as standard quality. Unavailable for community use.



AGP A full size, floodlit, World Rugby compliant 3G pitch which is subject to curriculum use but unavailable to the community.

Seek to resolve issues restricting potential to make the pitch available for community use.


School

RFU

Medium L L Protect

Rugby union

Three pitches rated as good quality. Spare capacity of 6.75 sessions although not available for community use.



Tennis Three artificial turf courts rated as standard quality. Not available for community use.

Sustain current court quality through continued maintenance and explore local demand for community use.


99 St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School

Football School Three mini 7v7 pitches rated as standard quality. Available for community use. No actual spare capacity during peak period.

Sustain the pitch quality with an ongoing maintenance regime. Seek to formalise the community use to increase security of tenure of the pitches.

School

Club


101 Stamford Park Bowls Council One green rated as standard quality. which was improved by the Council recently.

Sustain current green quality through continued maintenance.


Football One youth 9v9 pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Available spare capacity of one match session.

Sustain the current level of quality. Continue to explore local demand for the pitch, possibly remarking the pitch as a different format to accommodate local demand.


Tennis Four macadam courts rated as poor quality. Available for community use but without floodlighting. Plans to develop as a fifth tennis park hub in 2017 with circa £100,000 capital investment planned, including reconfiguration of courts to provide for adult, junior and training opportunities.

Develop the site as a fifth tennis park hub.

Seek to improve the court quality either through resurfacing or through improved maintenance regime.

Council

LTA

Medium L L/M Enhance

38

(S) -Short (1-2 years); (M) - Medium (3-5 years); (L) - Long (6+ years)



Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost Aim

104 The Grammar (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys)

AGP School/

Trafford Leisure

One sand filled, standard quality, full sized AGP which is floodlit and available for community use. The pitch is ten years old and has now met the recommended surface lifespan. It hosts four matches per week from Bowdon HC but is unused midweek and is well used for football training.

Should a full sized 3G pitch be developed as proposed, seek to secure access for hockey midweek which may be freed up as a result of expected transfer of some football training to 3G.


Ensure the provider has a sinking fund in place and that revenue is regularly invested into it for future repairs or resurfacing.

School

Club

EH

Key

(potential Hub)

Low L L Protect

Planning application since submitted for the creation of a full sized, floodlit 3G pitch onsite (to be built to World Rugby specifications and also dual-lined for football) in place of the youth 9v9 football pitch, surrounding grass areas currently used for winter sports training and the NTP.

Should planning permission be granted, deliver the proposed scheme to reduce 3G pitch shortfalls and ensure community use is secured through formal agreement or planning conditions.

Explore potential to access external funding towards such proposed development.

Ensure any potential 3G pitch is performance tested and registered for both FA/FIFA and World Rugby certification.

School

Sport England

FA

RFU

High S H Provide

Football One adult and one youth 9v9 pitch both rated as standard quality. Not available for community use. Proposed loss of the youth 9v9 pitch and surrounding grass areas to development of a full sized 3G pitch.

Should a 3G pitch be developed, maximise use for football and rugby union to manage impact and use of grass pitches.

Maintain existing grass pitches regularly as required to sustain and improve quality.

School

FA

Low L L Protect

Rugby union

Two mini and two senior pitches rated as poor quality. Not available for community use. None of the existing pitches are implicated as part of the proposed 3G pitch development, whilst local clubs Bowdon RUFC and Altrincham Kersal RUFC have indicated willingness to use World Rugby compliant 3G provision which may be developed onsite.

Should a World Rugby compliant 3G pitch be developed, maximise use for football and rugby union to manage impact and use of grass pitches.

Maintain existing grass pitches regularly as required to sustain and improve quality.

School

RFU

Low S L Enhance

Cricket One standalone NTP and a natural turf pitch with two grass wickets. All are standard quality and unavailable for community use. Planning application since submitted for the creation of a full sized 3G pitch on this area of playing field, with proposals for the existing NTP to be relocated elsewhere within the remaining playing field land, exclusive of the existing natural turf square.

Reprovide a new NTP as a standalone pitch on remaining playing field land not impacted upon by the proposed development.

School

ECB/CCB

Medium L L Protect

39

(S) -Short (1-2 years); (M) - Medium (3-5 years); (L) - Long (6+ years)



Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost Aim

104 The Grammar (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys)

Tennis School/

Trafford Leisure

Four artificial turf courts rated as good quality. Not available for community use.

Sustain the current court quality for curriculum use. Explore local demand for community use.

School

LTA

Key

(potential Hub)

Low L L Protect

105 Timperley Cricket Hockey and Lacrosse

Cricket Sports Club Two natural turf cricket squares rated as good quality. Available for community use. One pitch has 18 natural turf wickets. One pitch has 9 natural turf wickets.

Sustain the current pitch quality whilst ensuring that pitches marked on the outfield do not adversely affect the quality. Ensure that ancillary facilities do not hinder club development.

Club

ECB/CCB

Key

Low L L Protect

Football Two mini 7v7 pitches rated as good quality. Available for community use. No actual spare capacity during peak period.

Retain the pitch quality with the existing maintenance regime. Ensure that continued use does not adversely affect the cricket outfield upon which the pitches are marked.


AGP Two sand dressed, full size AGP which are of standard quality and are floodlit. The pitches were built in 2007 and are home of Timperley HC. As such, both now meet the recommended surface lifespan. There is no spare capacity for match play. Also used for training by other member sports sections as well as for U19 lacrosse matches as a central venue.

Monitor surface quality and rigorously maintain. Resurface the pitches when required as quality deteriorates naturally over time.

Sustain the current pitch quality, seeking to make improvements where possible. Continue to make available for community use, ensuring that a sinking fund is in place for refurbishment.

Club

EH

Council

Low L L Protect

Lacrosse Three grass lacrosse pitches, one of which is smaller sized. Pitches have improved in quality due to partial completion of drainage work and regular verti draining, assisted by grant funding from the ECB and Sport England.

Maintain pitches as required and complete drainage works to ensure quality for use.

Ensure continued access to AGPs to support use of grass pitches.

Club

English Lacrosse

Low L L Protect

106 Timperley Recreation Ground

Football Council/

Sports Club

One adult pitch and one youth 9v9 pitch both rated as poor quality. Available for community use. Adult pitch is at capacity. Youth 9v9 pitch has actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions.

Seek to improve pitch quality through an improved maintenance regime.

Council Local Low L L Enhance

Athletics Poor quality cinder track with six lanes, built in 1967 and refurbished but exact date unknown, only repaired in parts over time. Home base of Altrincham & District AC.

Improve track quality which is impacting on performance and in turn participation.

Secure long-term security of tenure for the Club through asset transfer or leasehold on the condition it can evidence ability to sustain the asset.

As part of such discussion, support the Club to resurface the track with a synthetic surface made possible through securing future use.

Council

Club

High S H Protect

Enhance

107 Timperley Village Bowls Sports Club One green rated as good quality. Home venue of Timperley Village BC which has 193 members.

Sustain current green quality, ensuring that surface quality does not deteriorate through overplay. Explore adding a second green due to high demand.

Club Local Low L L Protect & Provide

110 Trafford College (Altrincham)

AGP School A sand dressed, full size AGP which is not floodlit. The pitch is poor quality and is unavailable for community use.

Seek to improve the pitch quality with an improved maintenance regime. Consider refurbishing the pitch and explore community use and floodlight options.

School Local Low L L-M Enhance

Provide



Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost Aim

124 Willows Primary School

Football School One youth 9v9 pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions.

Sustain the current pitch quality by continuing with the maintenance regime. Consider formalising community use and ensure that curriculum use remains a priority.


135 Bowdon Country Club and Spa

Football Private One adult and one youth 9v9 pitch rated as poor quality. Available for community us. Pitches are at capacity.

Seek to improve the pitch quality through an improved maintenance regime. Allow the pitch to be rested to improve pitch quality.

Private Local Low S L Enhance

AGP One half size, short pile 3G. Available for community use but not floodlit. The pitch is standard quality.

Continue to maintain the pitch to its current level. Explore the possibility of adding floodlighting with a view to increasing community use of the pitch. Ensure that a sinking fund is in place for refurbishment of the pitch.

Private Low L L Protect & Enhance

Rugby union

One senior pitch rated as good quality. Available for community use. Used by Bowdon RUFC.

Retain the current pitch quality by continuing with the maintenance programme.

Private

Club

Low L L Protect

138 Oldfield Brow Recreation Ground

Football Council One adult pitch of standard quality. Available for community use although unused. Actual spare capacity of one match session to protect quality of the pitch.

Sustain the current pitch quality by continuing with the current maintenance programme. Continue to explore local demand for community use and consider remarking the pitch for a different format to reduce overplay at other sites.

Council Reserve Low L L Protect

140 North Cestrian Grammar School Main Site

Tennis School Four tarmac pitches rated as poor quality. Not available for community use.

Seek to improve the court quality either through resurfacing or improved maintenance for curriculum use. Explore local demand for community use.

School

LTA

Reserve Low S L Enhance

143 St Vincent's Catholic Primary School

Football School Two mini 7v7 pitches of standard quality. Available for community use. No actual spare capacity during peak period.

Sustain the current pitch quality with the existing maintenance regime. Seek to formalise community use of the site.


144 Broadheath Primary School

Football School One youth 9v9 pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Pitch is overplayed.

Seek to improve the pitch quality to reduce/eliminate overplay. Consider whether community use is detrimentally effecting curriculum use.

School Local Low S L Protect

149 Bowdon Church School

Football School One adult and one mini 5v5 of standard quality. Available for community use. The adult pitch is overplayed. Mini 5v5 has no actual spare capacity during peak times.

Seek to improve pitch quality by improving the current maintenance regime, reducing overplay. Seek to formalise community use of the site to improve security of tenure of the pitches.

School Local Low S L Enhance & Protect

150 Wellgreen Primary School

Football School One mini 7v7 pitch of standard quality. The pitch has no actual spare capacity available during peak time.

Sustain the current pitch quality by continuing with the current maintenance regime. Consider formalising community use.


155 Bollin Primary School

AGP School A half-size sand dressed AGP of standard quality. The pitch is not floodlit and unavailable for community use.

Sustain the current pitch quality for curriculum use. Explore local demand for community use.




WEST AREA SUMMARY



West Shortfall of 3.5 youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of 2.5 adult match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of seven youth 11v11 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of one youth 9v9 match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of five mini 5v5 match equivalent sessions per week per week.


41

West Shortfall of three full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use to accommodate affiliated team training demand.

Shortfall of three full sized floodlit 3G pitches available for community use to accommodate affiliated team training demand.

Rugby union West Shortfall of 0.5 senior match equivalent sessions per week per week.

Shortfall of three senior match equivalent sessions per week per week.



Cricket West Demand is presently met. Shortfall of 10 matches per season.


West Demand for access to additional capacity for training use.





40










42




84

Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

44

Aim

1 Abbotsfield Park Bowls Council One green rated good quality. Home venue of Abbotsfield Ladies BC and Flixton Vets BC with a combined membership of 73 members.

Sustain green quality with continued maintenance ensuring that surface quality does not deteriorate through high levels of use.

Council

Clubs


Tennis Four macadam courts rated as poor quality. Available for community use.

Seek to improve court quality either through improved maintenance or resurfacing.


2 All Saints Catholic Primary School

Football School One mini 7v7 pitch of poor quality. Available for community use although unused. Spare capacity discounted due to being an unused school site and level of curriculum use unknown.

Seek to improve pitch quality through a more thorough maintenance regime. Continue to explore local demand for community use.

School Reserve Low S L Enhance

18 Broadoak School (Partington Sports Village)

AGP School One full-size medium pile pitch rated as standard quality. The pitch is floodlit and available for community use.

Sustain pitch quality by continuing with the existing maintenance programme.


Football One adult, one youth 11v11, one mini 7v7 and two youth 9v9 pitches; all rated as standard quality and available for community use. Adult pitch and youth 11v11 are overplayed. Mini 7v7 has actual spare capacity of one match session. Youth 9v9 have no actual spare capacity during peak times.

Seek to improve pitch quality through and improved maintenance regime, increasing pitch quality and capacity, reducing overplay. Continue to make the pitches available for community use ensuring that quality is not adversely effecting curriculum use.

School Medium S L Enhance & Protect

Rugby union

One senior pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use however unused.

Retain the current pitch quality by continuing with the existing maintenance regime. Continue to make the pitch available for community use.


Tennis Four macadam courts rated as standard quality. Available for community use.

Sustain court quality for both curriculum and community use.


19 Broadway Football Council Three adult pitches and two mini 7v7 pitches rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Adult pitches have actual spare capacity of 1.5 game sessions. Mini 7v7 has actual spare capacity of one game session.

Retain current pitch quality by continuing with the current maintenance regime. Consider marking the pitches with different size formats to accommodate overplay at other sites.

Council

FA


23 Carrington RUFC Rugby union

Sports Club One senior pitch rated as poor quality. Available for community use. Has actual spare capacity of 1 session. This pitch is going to be replaced at an alternative site by the land owner along with a separate floodlit training area top provide onsite floodlit capacity the Club presently does not have access to.

Until the new pitch is provided seek to improve the pitch through an improved maintenance regime.

Club Local Low L L Enhance

25 Chassen Road Football Council One youth 9v9 and one mini 7v7 rated as poor quality. Available for community use although mini 7v7 is unused. Youth 9v9 capacity discounted to protect pitch quality. Mini 7v7 has actual spare capacity of one game session.

Seek to improve pitch quality through and improved maintenance regime. Continue to explore local demand for community use.

Council Reserve Low L L Enhance

43





85

Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

44

Aim

28 Cross Lane (Partington Youth Centre)

Bowls Council One green rated as good quality. Home of Partington BC which has 29 members.

Sustain current green quality by continuing with the current maintenance regime.

Council

Club

Key Low L L Protect

Football Two adult pitches, one youth 11v11, two youth 9v9, three mini 7v7 all rated as standard quality. Adult pitch has actual spare capacity of 1.5 match equivalent sessions per week. Youth 11v11 has actual spare capacity of one match session. Youth 9v9 has no spare capacity during peak period. Mini 7v7 has actual spare capacity of three match equivalent sessions per week.

Seek to maximise use and ensure correct configuration of pitches meets current levels of demand. Improve maintenance in order to increase quality.

Council

FA

Medium S L Protect & Enhance

30 Davyhulme Park Bowls Council Two greens; one good quality and one poor quality. Davyhulme Park Bowls & Social Club and Winchester BC both use the site as a home venue with a combined 77 members.


Council

Clubs

Key Low L L Protect


Sustain the current court quality through continued maintenance. Consider making the site a hub within the analysis area for tennis.

Council

LTA

Medium M L Protect & Enhance

31 Davyhulme Primary School

Football School Three mini 7v7 pitches rated as good quality. Not available for community use.

Retain pitch quality with ongoing maintenance. Explore local demand for community use.


34 Flixton Conservative Club

Bowls Private One green rated as good quality. Home venue for Flixton Cons BC.

Sustain current green quality by continuing with the current maintenance regime. Ensure that surface quality does not deteriorate through overplay.


35 Flixton Ex-Servicemen’s Association

Bowls Private One green rated as good quality. Home venue of Flixton Ex-Serviceman’s BC which has 55 members.



36 Flixton Cricket Club Bowls Sports Club One green rated as standard quality. Home venue of Flixton CC BC.



Cricket One pitch rated as good quality; with18 natural turf wickets. Available for community use. Has spare capacity of 57 sessions per season but does not have actual spare capacity at peak time for senior cricket.

Sustain current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Seek to improve the ancillary facilities to allow the Club to continue to develop and provide cricket for all.

Club

ECB/LCCB

Low L L Protect

Tennis Four macadam courts rated as good quality. Available for community use.

Sustain the current court quality through continued maintenance. Ensure that court quality is not affected by site developments.

Club

LTA

Low L L Protect

37 Flixton Football Club Football Sports Club One adult pitch rated as standard quality. Actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week.

Retain spare capacity in order to help protect quality.

Club Local Low L L Protect & Enhance



86

Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

44

Aim

38 Flixton Girls' School AGP School One half-size medium pile pitch rated as good quality. Pitch is at full capacity for community use.



Football One adult pitch rated as standard quality. Unavailable for community use.



Tennis Three macadam courts rated as poor quality. Not available for community use.

Seek to improve court quality by either improving maintenance or refurbishing the courts. Ensure that the courts remain available for curriculum use and continue to explore local demand for community use.

School Low L L Enhance

39 Flixton Park Football Council Four adult pitches, one youth 9v9 and one mini 7v7 pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use. The adult pitch has no spare capacity during peak period. Youth 9v9 and mini 7v7 have actual spare capacity of one game session. Users report poor maintenance, unclear line markings, long grass and significant issue with dog fouling.


Council

FA

Key Medium S L Protect & Enhance

40 Golden Hill Park Bowls Council One green rated as good quality. Home venue of Golden Hill BC which has 62 members.


Council

Club


53 Humphrey Park Bowls Council One green rated as good quality. Home for both Humphrey Park and Humphrey Park Ladies bowling clubs which have a combined 52 members.


Council

Clubs


56 Lees Field Football Council One adult pitch rated as poor quality. Two youth 11v11, one youth 9v9 and one mini 7v7 all rated as standard quality. Available for community use. Adult pitch has had actual spare capacity discounted to protect the quality of the pitch. Mini 7v7 has actual spare capacity of one match session. Youth 11v11 and youth 9v9 are overplayed. Site has over marked pitches.


Council

FA

Key Medium S L Protect & Enhance

64 Lucozade Powerleague Soccerdome (Trafford)

AGP Commercial Four short pile 3G pitches with floodlighting. Thirteen indoor short pile 3G pitches. All are half size; standard quality and available for community use.

Retain surface quality for community use through ongoing maintenance.

Commercial

Reserve Low L L Protect

67 Mersey Valley Sports Club

Bowls Sports Club One green rated as good quality. Home venue of Mersey Valley BC.



Football One adult and one youth 9v9 both rated as poor quality. Adult pitch is overplayed. Youth 9v9 pitch is at capacity.

Seek to improve pitch quality in order to address overplay.

Council Low L L Enhance



87

Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

44

Aim

80 Partington Primary School

AGP School One half-size sand dressed pitch. Not available for community use. Pitch is at full capacity.


School Local L L L Protect

Football One mini 7v7 pitch rated as standard quality. Unavailable for community use.


School L L L Protect

96 St Antony’s Catholic College

Cricket School One senior standalone NTP rated as standard quality. Available for community use although unused.

Retain the pitch quality for curriculum use through sustained maintenance. Continue to explore local demand for community use.


Football One adult and one youth 9v9 rated as standard quality. Available for community use, however, youth 9v9 is unused. The adult pitch actual spare capacity has been discounted to protect the quality of the pitch. Spare capacity discounted due to being an unused school site and level of curriculum use unknown.

Seek to improve pitch quality through and improved maintenance regime, increasing pitch quality and capacity, reducing overplay. Continue to make the pitches available for community use ensuring that quality is not adversely effecting curriculum use.

School Medium S L Enhance & Protect

109 The Roebuck Pub Bowls Pub One green rated as good quality. Sustain current green quality ensuring that usage enables the greens sustainability and that surface quality is not adversely effected by overplay.

Pub Reserve Low L L Protect

111 Trafford Football Club

Football Sports Club One adult pitch rated as good quality. Actual spare capacity of one match session. Home venue of Trafford FC and must meet league ground grading requirements.

Retain spare capacity in order to help protect quality.


115 Urmston Grammar Academy

AGP School One three quarter size sand based pitch rated as poor quality. Not available for community use and not floodlit.

Seek to improve pitch quality for curriculum and community use. Consider resurfacing the pitch to a football suitable surface, should the pitch not be required for hockey use.

School

EH

FA

Local Medium M M Enhance & Provide

Cricket One senior standalone NTP rated as standard quality. Available for community use. The pitch is used by Urmston CC 3

rd

team, in addition to curriculum use.

Sustain current pitch quality through continued maintenance.


Football One adult pitch and one youth 9v9 pitch rated as standard quality. Unavailable for community use.

Retain pitch quality for curriculum use by continuing with the current maintenance programme. Explore local demand for community use.


116 Urmston Sports Club Bowls Sports Club One pitch rated as good quality. Home venue of Urmston Sports Club BC.

Sustain current green quality ensuring that surface quality does not deteriorate.


Cricket One natural turf cricket square rated as standard quality; 16 natural turf wickets. Available for community use. Has spare capacity of nine match equivalent sessions per season but does not have any actual spare capacity.

Sustain current pitch quality by continuing with the current maintenance regime. Ensure that ancillary facilities do not hinder club development.

Club

ECB/LCCB

Low L L Protect



88

Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

46

Aim

116 Urmston Sports Club Tennis Sports Club Five grass courts, three clay courts and three artificial turf courts all rated as good quality. Available for community use and used by both Urmston TC and Northern Aces. Urmston TC has submitted an expression of interest to the LTA regarding application for grant funding to floodlight the artificial courts.

Sustain the current court quality through continued maintenance.

Support the Club with aspirations to install floodlighting to increase capacity and explore potential to secure grant funding.

Club

LTA

Local Medium S/M L/M Protect & Enhance

121 Wellacre Academy AGP School One full-size sand filled pitch rated as standard quality. Academy has a desire to convert the sand filled AGP to a 3G surface and had previous plans which did not come fruition. The Academy (for boys) mainly plays football and rugby league, whilst key community partners are football clubs. As such, both the Academy and club partners have a preference for a 3G surface, though the pitch is also used by Urmston HC for both matches and training.

This AGP should be retained as a hockey suitable surface as there is no other full sized AGP in the West Area for Urmston HC to play and train.


Sustain the current pitch quality, seeking to make improvements where possible. Continue to make available for community use, ensuring that a sinking fund is in place for refurbishment.

School

EH

FA

Local Medium M H Enhance

Football Three adult pitches rated as good quality. Used for community use. Actual spare capacity of two match equivalent sessions per week. One youth 9v9 pitch rated as good quality with no actual spare capacity during peak period.



Rugby league

One senior pitch rated as good quality (overmarked with a football pitch). Used for community use. Used to capacity due to overmarking.



Tennis Four macadam courts rated as poor quality. Not available for community use.

Seek to improve court quality by either improving maintenance or refurbishing the courts. Ensure that the courts remain available for curriculum use and continue to explore local demand for community use.

School Low L L Enhance

Cricket This NTP is disused as the School has no demand for cricket. The School also deem the NTP unsafe and hope to remove it to allow the space to be utilised in other ways.

No demand to retain in its current form. School Low S L Enhance

126 Woodsend Park Football Council One adult, one youth 9v9, two mini 7v7 rated as standard quality. Used for community use. None of the pitches have actual spare capacity during peak period.



131 AON Training Ground

AGP Sports Club Two floodlit full-size medium pile 3G pitch rated as good quality. Not available for community use. The site is the training venue for Manchester United FC.

Sustain current pitch quality by continuing with the existing maintenance regime.

Club Reserve Low L L Protect

45





89

Site

ID


Partners

Site hierarchy

tier


Cost

46

Aim

132 Carrington Training Ground

AGP Sports Club One medium pile 3G. Floodlighting unknown. Not available for community use. The site is the training venue for Bury FC.


Club Reserve Low L L Protect

Football Seven adult pitches rated as standard quality. Not available for community use as the venue is the training ground of Bury FC.



133 Sale Sharks Training Ground

Rugby union

Sports Club Four senior pitches rated as good quality. Available for community use. One floodlit pitch is overplayed due to accommodating all training demand of Sale Rugby FC, a second pitch is overplayed mainly due to daytime training demand from Sale Sharks. Actual spare capacity of two match equivalent sessions per week available at peak time.

Sustain the current pitch quality by continuing with the existing maintenance programme.

Given aspirations of the two resident user clubs and levels of site overplay, establish feasibility of developing World Rugby Compliant provision onsite.

Club Local Medium S L Protect & Provide

141 Ashton on Mersey Rugby Club

Football Sports Club One mini 7v7 rated as poor quality. No actual spare capacity during peak period.

Seek to improve the pitch quality through an improved maintenance regime.

Club Local Low L L Enhance

Rugby union

Three senior pitches rated as standard quality. Available for community use. The three pitches have an accumulative 2.5 match equivalent sessions of actual spare capacity.

The Club reports that changing rooms are dated and in need of improvement.

Consider options to install floodlighting on at least one senior pitch to increase floodlit space available to allow for growth in participation and evening match play. Sustained and improved level of maintenance would be required to manage additional use made possible through floodlighting.

Seek to improve quality of changing facilities.


142 Davyhulme Social Club

Bowls Private One pitch rated as good quality. The home venue of Davyhulme Social Club BC that has 90 members.

Sustain green quality whilst ensuring that surface quality does not deteriorate from high amount of use.


146 Our Lady & English Martyrs Parish Centre

Football School One mini 7v7 pitch rated as standard quality. Used for community use. Has actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week.



147 Acre Hall Primary School

Football School One mini 5v5 pitch rated as standard quality. Used for community use. No actual spare capacity during peak period.



148 Egerton High School Football School One mini 7v7 pitch rated as standard quality. Used for community use. No actual spare capacity during peak period.



151 Partington Housing Association

Football Council One mini 7v7 pitch rated as standard quality. One youth 9v9 pitch rated as standard quality. Actual spare capacity of 0.5 match equivalent sessions per week.

Retain spare capacity until pitch quality can be improved.

Council Local Low L L Protect & Enhance

153 Highfield Primary School

Football School One youth 9v9 pitch rated as standard quality. Available for community use although unused. Spare capacity discounted due to being an unused school site and level of curriculum use unknown.

Retain the current pitch quality through continued maintenance. Also continue to make the pitch available for community use and explore local demand.



June 2017 PPS Strategy: Knight, Kavanagh and Page

90

PART 7: HOUSING GROWTH SCENARIOS The PPS provides an estimate of demand for pitch sport based on population forecasts and club consultation to 2026 (in line with the Local Plan). This future demand is translated into teams likely to be generated, rather than actual pitch provision required. The Sport England New Development Calculator adds to this, updating the likely demand generated for pitch sports based on housing increases and converts the demand into the number of pitches required. This is achieved by using the current team generation rates in the Assessment Report to determine how many new teams would be generated from an increase in population derived from housing growth and gives the associated costs of supplying the increased pitch provision. The scenarios below show the additional demand for pitch sports generated from housing growth. The demand is shown in match equivalent sessions per week for the majority of sports, with the exception of cricket, where match equivalent sessions are by season. This is also equated to pitches required at peak time for each sport rounded up or down to the nearest whole pitch. The scenarios below show the additional demand for pitch sports generated from housing growth, equivalent to pitches with associated costs. The indicative figures are based on the assumption that population growth will average 2.447 per dwelling. The indicative figures will be applied to two exclusive scenarios, based on the population figures contained within the draft Greater Manchester Strategic Framework (GMSF) and the Trafford Core Strategy. The scenarios are as follows: Scenario One: Proposed draft GMSF housing requirement of 23,100 forecasted to 2035.

Scenario Two: Trafford Borough Council five year housing requirement (2016/17-2020/21)48 Please note that the scenarios can be updated as required over the Local Plan and GMSF period throughout the lifespan of the PPS to reflect population projections and change in the average household size. The number of pitches required in the following tables has been rounded up or down accordingly, however capital and revenue costs are based on indicative pitch costs, proportionate to the total match equivalent sessions required rather than just whole pitches required. Though increases in match sessions for some sports are not sufficient to warrant the creation of new pitches, the associated costs have been incorporated and investment into alternative sites could instead be considered to increase capacity to accommodate this new demand. Scenario 1: Likely demand generated for pitch sports from housing growth requirement over the draft GMSF period (2035) The estimated additional population derived from housing growth by 2035 is 55,440 (23,100 dwellings). This equates to 62.06 match equivalent sessions per week for grass pitch sports, 8.77 on artificial grass pitches for hockey and 245.73 per season for cricket.

47

Based on information from the 2011 Census 48

Based on information from the Trafford Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) as at 31st March

2016.



91

Table 7.1: Likely demand for pitch sports generated from housing growth (2035)


Match equivalent sessions

(MES) per week49

Pitches




Rugby union 5.91 6 senior pitches

Rugby league 0.77 1 pitch

Hockey 8.77 2 artificial grass pitches

Cricket 245.73 per season 5 pitches

Should new pitches be required to accommodate all of this demand, the capital cost is estimated at £6,265,77150 and the total life cycle cost (per annum) is £1,124,545.51 Scenario 2: Likely demand generated for pitch sports from housing growth over the next five years (2016/17-2020/21) The Trafford Core Strategy estimates that over the next five years housing delivery is likely to be 4,30152. The estimated additional population derived from the five year housing growth is 10,323 (4,301 dwellings). This equates to 11.55 match equivalent sessions per week for grass pitch sports, 1.64 on artificial grass pitches for hockey and 45.75 per season for cricket. Table 7.2: Likely demand for pitch sports from housing growth in the next five years


Match equivalent sessions

(MES) per week32

Pitches




Rugby union 1.1 1 senior pitch



Cricket 45.75 1 pitch

Should new pitches be required to accommodate all of this demand, the capital cost is estimated at £1,166,69525 and the total life cycle cost (per annum) is £209,39226.

49

As per the PPS Guidance, demand for cricket is considered in terms of match equivalent sessions per season

rather than per week. 50

Capital cost is based on 2016 second quarter calculations. 51

Sport England Life Cycle Costs Natural Turf Pitches and Artificial Surfaces April 2012 52

Based on information from the Trafford Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) as at 31st March

2016.



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Conclusions The tables above show that over the next five years, and up to 2035, demand will be generated for each pitch sport to a lesser or greater extent. This position is indicative and does not provide information on where the housing is likely to be located, how many dwellings will actually be provided or which existing playing fields the additional demand is likely to migrate to. When planning applications are being determined the PPS should be used to identify whether: the additional demand can be accommodated on existing pitches; improvements are required to increase capacity to accommodate the additional demand; or new pitches are required New allocations

Experience shows that only housing sites with 600 dwellings or more are likely to generate demand in their own right; however, the cumulative impact of housing across the local authority clearly shows that there will be demand generated over the next five years and up to 2020/21. Four large developments (those considered to be 500+ dwellings) are allocated, shown below. Table 7.3: Summary of new housing allocations over 500 new dwellings

Location Number of new homes Associated population increase

53

Pomona Island 1100 2,640

Trafford Wharfside 900 2,160

Trafford Centre Rectangle 1050 2,520

Carrington 1560 3,744

Using team generation rates54 from the PPS Assessment Report it is possible to estimate the likely minimum level of provision to be generated from each development.

53

Based on information from the 2011 Census 54

District wide team generation rates, not Analysis Area level.



93

Table 7.4: Likely demand for pitch sports from specific new housing allocations.

Location Pitch type Requirement55

Match Equivalent Sessions (MES

56) per week

Pitches

Pomona Island Adult football 0.48 No pitches

Youth football 1.18 1 pitch

Mini football 0.98 1 pitch

Rugby union 0.28 No pitches



Cricket 11.7 per season No pitches

Total requirement: two grass pitches

Total capital cost of £298,370, total life cycle cost (per annum) of £53,550

Trafford Wharfside

Adult football 0.39 No pitches









Trafford Centre Rectangle

Adult football 0.46 No pitches









Carrington Adult football 0.68 No pitches









55

Based on one team sharing a pitch and playing on a home and away basis at peak time 56

As per the PPS Guidance, demand for cricket is considered in terms of match equivalent sessions per season

rather than per week.



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The exact nature and location of provision associated with these developments should be fully determined through the local planning process and in partnership with each specific NGB, which may, for example, include off site contributions in the form of upgrading pitches at existing sites where appropriate. Where there is no requirement for a full pitch to be provided, then the number of match equivalent sessions should be used to determine which pitches within the locality could be improved to increase provision to the number of match equivalent sessions required. Notwithstanding existing planning permissions for which Section 106 contributions have already been agreed, it is important that the Council secures appropriate contributions from all new developments to provide for the sporting needs arising from the residents of that development. The Council could consider using CIL (if adopted) to obtain contributions to priority sites, or pooling S106 contributions from major housing schemes to invest in priority sites. In either case, the preceding Action Plan and future consultation with NGBs should inform the playing fields that most require investment.



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PART 8: DELIVER THE STRATEGY AND KEEP IT ROBUST AND UP TO DATE Delivery The Playing Pitch Strategy seeks to provide guidance for maintenance/management decisions and investment made across Trafford in the years up to 2026. By addressing the issues identified in the Assessment Report and using the strategic framework presented in this Strategy, the current and future sporting and recreational needs of Trafford can be satisfied. The Strategy identifies where there is a deficiency in provision and identifies how best to resolve this in the future. It is important that this document is used in a practical manner, is engaged with partners and encourages partnerships to be developed, to ensure that outdoor sports facilities are regarded as a vital aspect of community life and which contribute to the achievement of Council priorities. The production of this strategy should be regarded as the beginning of the planning process. The success of this strategy and the benefits that are gained are dependent upon regular engagement between all partners involved and the adoption of a strategic approach. Each member of the steering group should take the lead to ensure the PPS is used and applied appropriately within their area of work and influence. The role of the steering group should not end with the completion of the PPS document To help ensure the PPS is well used it should be regarded as the key document within the study area guiding the improvement and protection of playing pitch provision. It needs to be the document people regularly turn to for information on the how the current demand is met and what actions are required to improve the situation and meet future demand. In order for this to be achieved the steering group need to have a clear understanding of how the PPS can be applied and therefore delivered. The process of developing the PPS will hopefully have already resulted in a number of benefits that will help with its application and delivery. These may include enhanced partnership working across different agendas and organisations, pooling of resources along with strengthening relationships and understanding between different stakeholders and between members of the steering group and the sporting community. The drivers behind the PPS and the work to develop the recommendations and action plan will have also highlighted, and helped the steering group to understand, the key areas to which it can be applied and how it can be delivered. Monitoring and updating It is important that there is regular annual monitoring and review against the actions identified in the Strategy. This monitoring should be led by the local authority and supported by all members of, and reported back to, the steering group. Understanding and learning lessons from how the PPS has been applied should also form a key component of monitoring its delivery. This should form an on-going role of the steering group. As a guide, if no review and subsequent update has been carried out within three years of the PPS being signed off by the steering group, then Sport England and the NGBs would consider the PPS and the information on which it is based to be out of date.



96

The nature of the supply and in particular the demand for playing pitches will likely to have changed over the three years. Therefore, without any form of review and update within this time period it would be difficult to make the case that the supply and demand information and assessment work is sufficiently robust. Ideally the PPS could be reviewed on an annual basis from the date it is formally signed off by the steering group. This will help to maintain the momentum and commitment that would have been built up when developing the PPS. Taking into account the time to develop the PPS this should also help to ensure that the original supply and demand information is no more than two years old without being reviewed. An annual review should not be regarded as a particularly resource intensive task. However, it should highlight: How the delivery of the recommendations and action plan has progressed and any changes

required to the priority afforded to each action (e.g. the priority of some may increase following the delivery of others)

How the PPS has been applied and the lessons learnt Any changes to particularly important sites and/or clubs in the area (e.g. the most used or

high quality sites for a particular sport) and other supply and demand information, what this may mean for the overall assessment work and the key findings and issues

Any development of a specific sport or particular format of a sport Any new or emerging issues and opportunities. Once the PPS is complete, the role of the steering group should evolve so that it: Acts as a focal point for promoting the value and importance of the PPS and playing pitch

provision in the area Monitors, evaluates and reviews progress with the delivery of the recommendations and

action plan Shares lessons learnt from how the PPS has been used and how it has been applied to a

variety of circumstances Ensures the PPS is used effectively to input into any new opportunities to secure improved

provision and influence relevant programmes and initiatives Maintains links between all relevant parties with an interest in playing pitch provision in the

area; Reviews the need to update the PPS along with the supply and demand information and

assessment work on which it is based. Further to review the group should either: Provide a short annual progress and update paper; Provide a partial review focussing on particular sport, pitch type and/or sub area; or Lead a full review and update of the PPS document (including the supply and demand

information and assessment details).



97

Alongside the regular steering group meetings a good way to keep the strategy up to date and maintain relationships may be to hold annual sport specific meetings with the pitch sport NGBs and other relevant parties. These meetings could look to update the key supply and demand information, if necessary amend the assessment work, track progress with implementing the recommendations and action plan and highlight any new issues and opportunities. These meetings could be timed to fit with the annual affiliation process undertaken by the NGBs which would help to capture any changes in the number and nature of sports clubs in the area. Other information that is already collected on a regular basis such as pitch booking records for local authority and other sites could be fed into these meetings. The NGBs will also be able to indicate any further performance quality assessments that have been undertaken within the study area. Discussion with the league secretaries may also indicate annual league meetings which it may be useful to attend to pick up any specific issues and/or enable a review of the relevant club details to be undertaken.

The steering group should regularly review and refresh area by area plans taking account of any improvements in pitch quality (and hence increases in pitch capacity) and also any new negotiations for community use of education sites in the future. It is important that the Council maintains the data contained with the accompanying Playing Pitch Database. This will enable it to refresh and update area by area plans on a regular basis. The accompanying databases are intended to be refreshed on a season by season basis and it is important that there is cross-departmental working, including for example, grounds maintenance and sports development departments, to ensure that this is achieved and that results are used to inform subsequent annual sports facility development plans. Results should be shared with partners via a consultative mechanism.



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Checklist To help ensure the PPS is delivered and is kept robust and up to date, the steering group can refer to the new methodology Stage E Checklist: Deliver the strategy and keep it robust and up to date: http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/planning-for-sport/planning-tools-and-guidance/playing-pitch-strategy-guidance/

Stage E: Deliver the strategy and keep it robust and up to date

Tick

Yes Requires Attention

Step 9: Apply & deliver the strategy

1. Are steering group members clear on how the PPS can be applied across a

range of relevant areas?

2. Is each member of the steering group committed to taking the lead to help

ensure the PPS is used and applied appropriately within their area of work

and influence?

3. Has a process been put in place to ensure regular monitoring of how the

recommendations and action plan are being delivered and the PPS is being

applied?

Step 10: Keep the strategy robust & up to date

1. Has a process been put in place to ensure the PPS is kept robust and up to

date?

2. Does the process involve an annual update of the PPS?

3. Is the steering group to be maintained and is it clear of its on-going role?

4. Is regular liaison with the NGBs and other parties planned?

5. Has all the supply and demand information been collated and presented in

a format (i.e. single document that can be filtered accordingly) that will

help people to review it and highlight any changes?

6. Have any changes made to the Active Places Power data been fed back to

Sport England?

http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/planning-for-sport/planning-tools-and-guidance/playing-pitch-strategy-guidance/

http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/planning-for-sport/planning-tools-and-guidance/playing-pitch-strategy-guidance/



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APPENDIX ONE: INCREASING FOOTBALL USE OF 3G PITCHES

During the last decade 3G AGPs have played an increasing role within the national game. They are regarded by the Football Association (FA) as the optimum facility for training by clubs. In recent seasons, they have also become more popular for competitive matches. With this in mind, before developing the recommendations and action plan for this PPS, two scenarios have been looked at to help with understanding what demand there may be for full sized57 floodlit 3G AGPs in Trafford if increased amounts of play were to take place on them. In order to do so, information from the ‘Assessment’ stage of developing this PPS, alongside details from the FA, have been used to help answer the following questions: How many full sized floodlit 3G AGPs may be required to meet demand within Trafford if:

All teams playing competitive football had access to a full size floodlit 3G AGP to train on once a week

All matches for teams currently playing competitive football on Council (Trafford Leisure managed) natural grass pitches in Trafford were played on full size floodlit 3G AGPs

The answers to these questions are set out below and are based on full sized floodlit 3G AGPs which have full community use during peak periods58. However, the results should be viewed as providing an indication of the ‘full size pitch equivalents’ that may be demanded. In practice, the most appropriate ways of meeting any such increase in demand will vary depending on the nature of the local area. For example, in some areas new full size floodlit AGPs may be appropriate, whereas in others small sided provision to cater for increased training use, or securing greater community use/hours of existing provision may be the best way forward. Given the above, what the answers may mean for the Trafford area, taking into account the wider findings from the Assessment stage of developing the PPS, is also presented below. These details have been used to help inform the development of the PPS’s recommendations and the action plan (see pages 41 to 74).

57

A full sized 3G AGP measuring FA recommended dimensions of 106 x70m (inclusive of run off/safety margins). 58

Weekdays 17:00 - 21:00 (or 19:00 on Fridays) and 09:00 - 17:00 on weekends.



100

Scenario results

i. If all teams playing competitive football had access to a full size floodlit 3G AGP to train on once a week.

As a guide, the FA suggests that one full size floodlit 3G AGP could potentially accommodate this training demand from 42 teams

(Ratio of 1:4259). The information from the Assessment stage of this PPS indicates that there are 466 unique teams playing competitive football in

Trafford, increasing to 507 by 2026 based on team generation rates from population projections.

Table A.1: Current and future supply/demand balance by Analysis Area for full sized 3G pitches for training.

Analysis Area Current number of

teams

Current full sized 3G pitch

requirement

Current supply

Current shortfall (by Analysis

Area)

Future number of teams (2026)

Future full sized 3G pitch

requirement

Future shortfall (by Analysis

Area)

North 50 1 1 0 52 1 0

Central 106 2 - 2 118 2 2

South 132 3 1 2 146 3 2

West 178 4 1 3 191 4 3

Total 466 10 3 7 507 10 7

Using the FA’s 1:42 ratio suggests that ten full sized floodlit 3G AGPs would be required to meet this increased training use within

Trafford when applied on an Analysis Area level. Based on a requirement for ten pitches, there is a current and future shortfall of seven full sized 3G pitches when considering current

supply.

59

The FA developed the training ratio following their facilities strategy vision to provide all affiliated clubs with access to a 3G AGP for training. An original ratio of 1:56 was based on a full sized pitch providing 56 slots per week (Mon-Thurs 6-9pm, Fri 6-8pm). The ratio was subsequently revised to 1:42. This was due to evidence of a number of local authority areas reaching the perceived required number of 3G AGP facilities based on the 1:56 ratio yet still evidencing latent demand. Further FA analysis of 3G AGP facility usage also showed that many affiliated teams seek more than one slot for training and that significant amounts of non-FA affiliated and recreational demand also use 3G AGPs during the peak time, creating a need for further 3G AGP provision.



ii. If all matches for teams playing competitive football on Council managed natural

grass pitches were played on full size floodlit 3G AGPs.

The FA is keen to work with local authorities (LAs) to understand the potential demand

for full size floodlit 3G AGPs should all competitive matches, currently played on LA managed (in Trafford this is by Trafford Leisure) natural grass pitches, be transferred to one.

Table A.2 takes information from the Assessment stage of this PPS to present the number of teams playing on Trafford Leisure managed natural grass pitches and the relevant peak periods.

Table A.2: Number of teams playing on LA managed natural grass pitches

Pitch type Pitch size Peak period No. of teams

Adult 11v11 Sunday AM 33

Youth 11v11 Sunday AM 81

Youth 9v9 Saturday AM 46

Youth 7v7 Saturday AM 1

Mini 7v7 Saturday AM 43

Mini 5v5 Saturday AM 8

Total 212

The FA suggests an approach (see below) for estimating the number of full size floodlit 3G AGPs that teams may demand for competitive matches. Table A.3 presents the results of this approach for the teams set out in Table A.2.

Table A.2: Number of full sized 3G AGPs that may be required

Format No Teams per time

(x)

No matches at PEAK TIME

(y) = x/2

3G units per match

(z)

Total units required formats

(A)=(y)*(z)

3G pitches required

B= (A)/64

5v5 8 4 4 16 0.25

7v7 44 22 8 176 2.75

9v9 46 23 10 230 3.59375

11v11 (Youth)

81 40.5 32 1296 20.25

11v11 (Adult)

33 16.5 32 528 8.25

Transferring all matches for teams currently playing competitive football on Trafford Leisure managed natural grass pitches would equate to a demand for 29 (rounded up from 28.5) full sized floodlit 3G AGPs for all the different formats of the game.

In practice, it is unrealistic to deliver 29 full sized 3G pitches on this basis. In order to accommodate all mini soccer (both formats) and youth 9v9 football on Saturday mornings there would be a need for six (rounded down from 6.5960) full sized 3G pitches in Trafford. This could also accommodate a proportion of adult and youth 11v11 demand on Sunday morning, sufficient to accommodate 12 matches per week or 24 teams

60

Rounded down due to the existing small sized FA certified 3G pitch at Flixton Girls School able to accommodate some mini match play.



playing within a home and away format. This equates to 30% of youth 11v11 demand, 73% of adult demand, or 21% of total 11v11 football (both formats) on Sunday mornings.

This considered, it is important to note the significant level of mini and youth 9v9 football played on 3G pitches in neighbouring Manchester across a number of central venue leagues. This may influence the potential approach to play on 3G pitches in Trafford given the proximity, though there may be opportunities for pitches to link to existing leagues in the Manchester and Greater Manchester area to broaden the central venue offer across the region.

The FA approach for estimating the number of full size floodlit 3G AGPs that teams may demand for competitive matches is based on:

A team playing a ‘home’ match every other week - therefore dividing the number of teams by two with the result rounded up to provide a figure for the number of matches a week during the peak period (Table A.3 Column y).

A 3G AGP being available for 4 hours61 a day during the peak period (e.g. 10am to 2pm). Therefore, all demand being programmed over the four hour period.

Using a unit measure which can be applied to the different formats of the game to quantify how a pitch can be used during this 4 hour period (Table A.3 Column z). One unit is taken as equating to a quarter of a full size 3G AGP for 15 minutes. Therefore, a full size 3G AGP provides 4 units per 15 minutes and 16 units per hour. Across the four hour period this totals a capacity of 64 units (16 units per hour x 4 hours).

As set out in Table A.4 below, each format of the game will require a certain amount of

units of a full size 3G AGP per match based on the required pitch size and match

duration.

Table A.3: FA set units of a full size 3G AGP per match for each format

Format of the game

No. of pitches that fit on a full

size 3G AGP

No. of matches per hour on a full size

3G AGP

No. of matches per 2 hour period on a full size 3G AGP

Number of units per

match

5v5 4 4 8 4

7v7 2 2 4 8

9v9 2 2 2 10

11v11 Youth 1 0 1 32

11v11 Adult 1 0 1 32

Current supply There are currently three full sized floodlit 3G AGPs available for community use and

club training. No full sized pitches are listed on the FA’s 3G AGP register62 and deemed suitable for

competitive matches, though all three available for community use meet FA recommended dimensions and could potentially meet criteria of FA/FIFA performance standard testing.

None of the three full sized 3G pitches available for community use are identified as having particularly restricted community use hours, whilst all have floodlighting.

61

The rationale for 4 hours is based on a standard approach for match programming nationally and the ability to facilitate 2 adult games.

62 The FA has established a 3G AGP register to help users identify facilities that are fit for purpose for competitive matches http://3g.thefa.me.uk/?countyfa=Manchester

http://3g.thefa.me.uk/?countyfa=Manchester



The only FA certified pitch available for competitive match play is at Flixton Girls School. It is youth 9v9 sized (60x40m), overmarked with two mini 7v7 pitches running widthways across the pitch.

There are a further 25 small sized 3G pitches considered to be available for community use, however the only available small sized pitch known to be of suitable dimensions to meet performance standard testing criteria is already certified at Flixton Girls School.



APPENDIX TWO: STRATEGIC CONTEXT

The recommendations within this Strategy have been developed via the combination of information gathered during consultation, site visits and analysis. They reflect key areas to be addressed over its lifetime. However, implementation must be considered in the context of financial implications and the need for some proposals to also meet planning considerations. National context The provision of high quality and accessible community outdoor sports facilities at a local level is a key requirement for achieving the targets set out by the Government and Sport England. It is vital that this strategy is cognisant of and works towards these targets in addition to local priorities and plans. Department of Media Culture and Sport Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation (2015) The Government published its strategy for sport in December 2015. This strategy confirms the recognition and understanding that sport makes a positive difference through broader means and that it will help the sector to deliver five simple but fundamental outcomes: physical health, mental health, individual development, social and community development and economic development. In order to measure its success in producing outputs which accord with these aims it has also adopted a series of 23 performance indicators under nine key headings, as follows:

More people taking part in sport and physical activity. More people volunteering in sport. More people experiencing live sport. Maximising international sporting success. Maximising domestic sporting success. Maximising domestic sporting success. A more productive sport sector. A more financially and organisationally sustainable sport sector. A more responsible sport sector. Sport England: Towards an Active Nation (2016-2021) Sport England has recently released its new five year strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’. The aim is to target the 28% of people who do less than 30 minutes of exercise each week and will focus on the least active groups; typically women, the disabled and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Sport England will invest up to £30m on a plan to increase the number of volunteers in grassroots sport. Emphasis will be on working with a larger range of partners with less money being directed towards National Governing Bodies.



The Strategy will help deliver against the five health, social and economic outcomes set out in the Government’s Sporting Future strategy. Physical Wellbeing Mental Wellbeing Individual Development Social & Community Development Economic Development National Planning Policy Framework

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out planning policies for England. It details how these changes are expected to be applied to the planning system. It also provides a framework for local people and their councils to produce distinct local and neighbourhood plans, reflecting the needs and priorities of local communities. The NPPF states the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. It identifies that the planning system needs to focus on three themes of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. A presumption in favour of sustainable development is a key aspect for any plan-making and decision-taking processes. In relation to plan-making the NPPF sets out that Local Plans should meet objectively assessed needs. The ‘promoting healthy communities’ theme identifies that planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the needs for open space, sports and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision. Specific needs and quantitative or qualitative deficiencies or surpluses in local areas should also be identified. This information should be used to inform what provision is required in an area. As a prerequisite, the NPPF states existing open space, sports and recreation buildings and land, including playing fields, should not be built on unless: An assessment has been undertaken, which has clearly shown that the open space,

buildings or land is surplus to requirements. The loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced by equivalent or

better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a suitable location. The development is for alternative sports and recreational provision, the needs for which

clearly outweigh the loss. In order for planning policies to be ‘sound’ local authorities are required to carry out a robust assessment of need for open space, sport and recreation facilities.



The FA National Game Strategy (2015 – 2019) The Football Association’s (FA) National Game Strategy provides a strategic framework that sets out key priorities, expenditure proposals and targets for the national game (i.e., football) over a four year period. The main issues facing grassroots football are identified as: Sustain and Increase Participation. Ensure access to education sites to accommodate the game. Help players to be the best that they can be and provide opportunities for them to

progress from grassroots to elite. Recruit, retain and develop a network of qualified referees Support clubs, leagues and other competition providers to develop a safe, inclusive and

positive football experience for everyone. Support Clubs and Leagues to become sustainable businesses, understanding and

serving the needs of players and customers. Improve grass pitches through the pitch improvement programme to improve existing

facilities and changing rooms. Deliver new and improved facilities including new Football Turf Pitches. Work with priority Local Authorities enabling 50% of mini-soccer and youth matched to

be played on high quality artificial grass pitches. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Cricket Unleashed 5 Year Plan The England and Wales Cricket Board unveiled a new strategic five-year plan in 2016 (available at http://www.cricketunleashed.com). Its success will be measured by the number of people who play, follow or support the whole game. The plan sets out five important headline elements and each of their key focuses, these are: More Play – make the game more accessible and inspire the next generation of

players, coaches, officials and volunteers. Focus on: Clubs and leagues Kids Communities Casual

Great Teams – deliver winning teams who inspire and excite through on-field performance and off-field behaviour. Focus on: Pathway Support Elite Teams England Teams

Inspired Fans – put the fan at the heart of our game to improve and personalise the

cricket experience for all. Focus on: Fan focus New audiences Global stage Broadcast and digital

http://www.cricketunleashed.com/



Good Governance and Social Responsibility – make decisions in the best interests of the game and use the power of cricket to make a positive difference. Focus on: Integrity Community programmes Our environments One plan

Strong Finance and Operations – increase the game’s revenues, invest our resources wisely and administer responsibly to secure the growth of the game. Focus on: People Revenue and reach Insight Operations

The Rugby Football Union National Facilities Strategy (2013-2017) The RFU National Facility Strategy 2013-2017 provides a framework for development of high-quality, well-managed facilities that will help to strengthen member clubs and grow the game in communities around them. In conjunction with partners, this strategy will assist and support clubs and other organisations, so that they can continue to provide quality opportunities for all sections of the community to enjoy the game. It sets out the broad facility needs of the sport and identifies investment priorities to the game and its key partners. It identifies that with 1.5 million players there is a continuing need to invest in community club facilities in order to: Create a platform for growth in club rugby participation and membership, especially with

a view to exploiting the opportunities afforded by RWC 2015. Ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of rugby clubs, through supporting not only their

playing activity but also their capacity to generate revenue through a diverse range of activities and partnerships.

In summary, the priorities for investment which have met the needs of the game for the Previous period remain valid: Increase the provision of changing rooms and clubhouses that can sustain concurrent

adult and junior male and female activity at clubs Improve the quality and quantity of natural turf pitches and floodlighting Increase the provision of artificial grass pitches that deliver wider game development It is also a high priority for the RFU to target investment in the following: Upgrade and transform social, community and catering facilities, which can support the

generation of additional revenues Facility upgrades, which result in an increase in energy-efficiency, in order to reduce the

running costs of clubs Pitch furniture, including rugby posts and pads, pitch side spectator rails and grounds

maintenance equipment



England Hockey (EH) - A Nation Where Hockey Matters (2013-2017) EH have a clear vision, a powerful philosophy and five core objectives that all those who have a role in advancing Hockey can unite behind. With UK Sport and Sport England’s investment, and growing commercial revenues, EH are ambitious about how they can take the sport forward in Olympic cycles and beyond. “The vision is for England to be a ‘Nation Where Hockey Matters’. A nation where hockey is talked about at dinner tables, playgrounds and public houses, up and down the country. A nation where the sport is on the back pages of our newspapers, where children dream of scoring a goal for England’s senior hockey team, and where the performance stirs up emotion amongst the many, not the few” England Hockey aspires to deepen the passion of those who play, deliver and follow sport by providing the best possible environments and the best possible experiences. Whilst reaching out to new audiences by making the sport more visible, available and relevant and through the many advocates of hockey. Underpinning all this is the infrastructure which makes the sport function. EH understand the importance of volunteers, coaches, officials, clubs and facilities. The more inspirational people can be, the more progressive Hockey can be and the more befitting the facilities can be, the more EH will achieve. The core objectives are as follows: Grow our Participation Deliver International Success Increase our Visibility Enhance our Infrastructure Be a strong and respected Governing Body England Hockey has a Capital Investment Programme (CIP), that is planned to lever £5.6 million investment into hockey facilities over the next four years, underpinned by £2m million from the National Governing Body. With over 500 pitches due for refurbishment in the next 4-8 years, there will be a large focus placed on these projects through this funding stream. The current level of pitches available for hockey is believed to be sufficient for the medium term needs, however in some areas, pitches may not be in the right places in order to maximise playing opportunities ‘The right pitches in the right places63’

In 2012, EH released its facility guidance which is intended to assist organisations wishing to build or protect hockey pitches for hockey. It identifies that many existing hockey AGPs are nearing the end of their useful life as a result of the installation boom of the 90’s. Significant investment is needed to update the playing stock and protect the sport against inappropriate surfaces for hockey as a result of the rising popularity of AGPs for a number of sports. EH is seeking to invest in, and endorse clubs and hockey providers which have a sound understanding of the following: Single System – clubs and providers which have a good understanding of the Single

System and its principles and are appropriately places to support the delivery. ClubsFirst accreditation – clubs with the accreditation are recognised as producing a

safe effective and child friendly hockey environment

63

http://englandhockey.co.uk/page.asp?section=1143andsectionTitle=The+Right+Pitches+in+the+Right+Places

http://englandhockey.co.uk/page.asp?section=1143&sectionTitle=The+Right+Pitches+in+the+Right+Places



Sustainability – hockey providers and clubs will have an approved development plan in place showing their commitment to developing hockey, retaining members and providing an insight into longer term goals. They will also need to have secured appropriate tenure.

England Hockey Strategy EH’s new Club Strategy will assist hockey clubs to retain more players and recruit new members to ultimately grow their club membership. EH will be focusing on participation growth through this strategy for the next two years. The EH Strategy is based on seven core themes. These are: 1. Having great leadership 2. Having Appropriate and Sustainable Facilities 3. Inspired and Effective People 4. Different Ways to Play 5. Staying Friendly, Social and Welcoming 6. Being Local with Strong Community Connections 7. Stretching and developing those who want it The Rugby Football League Facility Strategy The RFL’s Facilities Strategy was published in 2011. The following themes have been prioritised: Clean, Dry, Safe and Playable Sustainable clubs Environmental Sustainability Geographical Spread Non-club Facilities The RFL Facilities Trust website www.rflfacilitiestrust.co.uk provides further information on:

The RFL Community Facility Strategy Clean, Dry, Safe and Playable Programme Pitch Size Guidance The RFL Performance Standard for Artificial Grass Pitches Club guidance on the Annual Preparation and Maintenance of the Rugby League Pitch Further to the 2011 Strategy detail on the following specific programmes of particular relevance to pitches and facility planning are listed below and can be found via the trust link (see above): The RFL Pitch Improvement Programme 2013 – 2017 Clean, Dry and Safe programmes 2013 - 2017

http://www.rflfacilitiestrust.co.uk/



UK Athletics Facilities Strategy (2014-2019)

Facilities are essential to attracting, retaining and developing athletes of the future. Having the right facilities in the right place will be crucial in meeting growing demand, increasing participation in physical activity and athletics, improving the health of the nation and supporting a new generation of athletes in clubs and schools through to national and world class level. UKA and the Home Country Athletics Federations (HCAFs) recognise the challenges faced by facility owners and venue operators, and our 5 year Facility Strategy (2014-2019) uses a Track & Field facility model designed to support a sustainable UK network of development, training and competition venues that meet Home Country needs aligned to UKA’s Athlete/Participant Development Model. In addition to Track and Field provision, UKA recognises the huge amount of club activity that takes place on roads, paths and trails and the strategy also maps out a plan for future “running” facilities. The strategy does not seek to identify priority facilities, clubs or geographical areas. Instead, it provides the direction and guidance that will enable the four Home Country Athletics Federations (England Athletics, Athletics Northern Ireland, Scottish Athletics and Welsh Athletics) to establish their own priorities and deliver the principles of the UKA Facilities Strategy within their own national context. UKA's 2014-19 Facilities Strategy key outcomes: Increased participation across all athletics disciplines Increased club membership by providing facilities that support a participation pathway

from novice through to club member Increased talent pool Long term improvement in the development of athletes of all ages and abilities Securing the long-term future of existing facilities More attractive and inspiring facilities for existing and potential athletes Improving the athletics experience for all participants Improved relationships and interactions between stakeholders, particularly clubs and

facility operators



APPENDIX THREE: FUNDING PLAN Funding opportunities64 In order to deliver much of the Action Plan it is recognised that external partner funding will need to be sought. Although seeking developer contributions in applicable situations and other local funding/community schemes could go some way towards meeting deficiencies and/or improving provision, other potential/match sources of funding should be investigated. Below is a list of current funding sources that are relevant for community improvement projects involving sports facilities.

Awarding body Description

Big Lottery Fund

http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

Big invests in community groups and to projects that improve health, education and the environment. For example, Awards for All which is for small Lottery grants of between £300 and £10,000.

Sport England

The current funding streams will change throughout 2016/17 so refer to the website for the latest information:

http://funding.sportengland.org/funding/our-different-funds/

Sport England is keen to marry funding with other organisations that provide financial support to create and strengthen the best sports projects. Applicants are encouraged to maximise the levels of other sources of funding, and projects that secure higher levels of partnership funding are more likely to be successful.

Football Foundation

http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/funding-schemes/

This trust provides financial help for football at all levels, from national stadia and FA Premier League clubs down to grass-roots local development.

Rugby Football Foundation

http://www.rugbyfootballfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=113

The Grant Match Scheme in particular provides easy-to-access grant funding for playing projects that contribute to the recruitment and retention of community rugby players. Grants are available on a ‘match funding’ 50:50 basis to support a proposed project.

Projects eligible for funding include:

1. Pitch Facilities – Playing surface improvement, pitch improvement, rugby posts, floodlights.

2. Club House Facilities – Changing rooms, shower facilities, washroom/lavatory, and measures to facilitate segregation (e.g. women, juniors).

3. Equipment – Large capital equipment, pitch maintenance capital equipment (e.g. mowers).

Other loan schemes are also available.

The England and Wales Cricket Trust

https://www.ecb.co.uk/be-involved/club-support/club-funding

Interest Free Loan Scheme provides finance to clubs for capital projects and the Small Grant Scheme is also open to applications from affiliated cricket clubs.

EU Life Fund

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/funding/intro_en.htm

LIFE is the EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental and nature conservation projects throughout the EU.

National Hockey Foundation

http://www.thenationalhockeyfoundation.com/

The Foundation primarily makes grants to a wide range of organisations that meet one of the areas of focus: Young people and hockey, Enabling the development of hockey at youth or community level.

64

Up to date as of April 2017.

http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/
















Protecting Playing Fields Sport England’s Strategy: Towards an Active Nation (2016-2021) will simplify the funding reducing the number of investment programmes from 30 to 7: Tackling Inactivity Children and Young People Volunteering Taking sport and activity into the mass market Supporting sports core markets Local delivery Creating welcoming sports facilities The current funding streams listed below will remain operational during 2016/17 but will be phased out and replaced by one or more of the seven listed above. It launched Protecting Playing Fields (PPF) as part of its Places People Play Olympic legacy mass participation programme and is investing £10 million of National Lottery funding in community sports projects. The programme is being delivered via five funding rounds (with up to £2 million being awarded to projects in each round). Its focus is on protecting and improving playing fields and developing community sport. It will fund capital projects that create, develop and improve playing fields for sporting and community use and offer long term protection of the site for sport. Projects are likely to involve the construction of new pitches or improvement of existing ones that need levelling or drainage works. Sport England’s ‘Inspired Facilities’ funding programme will be delivered via funding rounds and where clubs, community and voluntary sector groups and local authorities can apply for grants of between £25k and £150k where there is a proven local need for a facility to be modernised, extended or modified to open up new sporting opportunities. The programmes three priorities are: Organisations that haven’t previously received a Sport England Lottery grant of over

£10k. Projects that are the only public sports facility in the local community. Projects that offer local opportunities to people who do not currently play sport. Besides this scheme providing an important source of funding for potential voluntary and community sector sites, it may also provide opportunities for Council to access this funding particularly in relation to resurfacing the artificial sports surfaces. For further up to date information please go to: http://funding.sportengland.org/funding/our-different-funds/protecting-playing-fields/

http://funding.sportengland.org/funding/our-different-funds/protecting-playing-fields/

http://funding.sportengland.org/funding/our-different-funds/protecting-playing-fields/



Strategic Facilities Fund Facilities are fundamental in providing more people with the opportunity to play sport. The supply of the right facilities in the right areas is key to getting more people to play sport. Sport England recognises the considerable financial pressures that local authorities are currently under and the need to strategically review and rationalise leisure stock so that cost effective and financially sustainable provision is available in the long-term. Sport England has a key role to play in the sector, from influencing the local strategic planning and review of sports facility provision to investing in major capital projects of strategic importance. The Strategic Facilities Fund will direct capital investment into a number of key local authority projects that are identified through a strategic needs assessment and that have maximum impact on growing and sustaining community sport participation. These projects will be promoted as best practice in the delivery of quality and affordable facilities, whilst demonstrating long-term operational efficiencies. The fund will support projects that bring together multiple partners, including input from the public and private sectors and national governing bodies of sport (NGBs). The fund is also designed to encourage applicants and their partners to invest further capital and revenue funding to ensure sustainability. Sport England has allocated a budget of circa £30m of Lottery funding to award through this fund (2013-17). Key features which applications must demonstrate are: A robust needs and evidence base which illustrates the need for the project and the

proposed facility mix Strong partnerships which will last beyond the initial development of the project and

underpin the long-term sustainability of the facility Multi-sport provision and activity that demonstrates delivery against NGB local priorities A robust project plan from inception to completion with achievable milestones and

timescales. Lottery applications will be invited on a solicited-only basis and grants of between £500,000 and £2,000,000 will be considered. The Strategic Facilities Fund will prioritise projects that: Are large-scale capital developments identified as part of a local authority sports facility

strategic needs assessment/rationalisation programme and that will drive a significant increase in community sports participation

Demonstrate consultation/support from two or more NGBs and delivery against their local priorities

Are multi-sport facilities providing opportunities to drive high participant numbers Are a mix of facility provision (indoor and/or outdoor) to encourage regular and

sustained use by a large number of people Offer an enhancement, through modernisation, to existing provision and/or new build

facilities Have a long-term sustainable business plan attracting public and private investment Show quality in design, but are fit for purpose to serve the community need Have effective and efficient operating models, combined with a commitment to

development programmes which will increase participation and provide talent pathways.



Projects will need to demonstrate how the grant will deliver against Sport England’s strategic priorities. The funding available is for the development of the capital infrastructure, which can contribute to the costs of new build, modernisation or refurbishment and purchasing of major fixed equipment as part of the facility development. Funder’s requirements Below is a list of funding requirements that can typically be expected to be provided as part of a funding bid, some of which will fall directly out of the Playing Pitch Strategy: Identify need (i.e., why the Project is needed) and how the Project will address it. Articulate what difference the Project will make. Identify benefits, value for money and/or added value. Provide baseline information (i.e., the current situation). Articulate how the Project is consistent with local, regional and national policy. Financial need and project cost. Funding profile (i.e., Who’s providing what? Unit and overall costs). Technical information and requirements (e.g., planning permission). Targets, outputs and/or outcomes (i.e., the situation after the Project/what the Project

will achieve) Evidence of support from partners and stakeholders. Background/essential documentation (e.g., community use agreement). Assessment of risk. Indicative costs The indicative costs of implementing key elements of the Action Plan can be found on the Sport England website: https://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/design-and-cost-guidance/cost-guidance/ The costs are for the development of community sports facilities and are based on providing good quality sports facility based on the last quarter. The Facilities Costs are updated on the Sport England website every quarter These rounded costs are based on schemes most recently funded through the Lottery (and therefore based on economies of scale), updated to reflect current forecast price indices provided by the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS), prepared by Technical Team Lead of Sport England.

https://www.sportengland.org/facilities-planning/design-and-cost-guidance/cost-guidance/



APPENDIX FOUR: GLOSSARY Displaced demand generally relates to play by teams or other users of playing pitches from within the study area (i.e. from residents of the study area) which takes place outside of the area. This may be due to issues with the provision of pitches and ancillary facilities in the study area, just reflective of how the sports are played (e.g. at a central venue for the wider area) or due to the most convenient site for the respective users just falling outside of the local authority/study area. Unmet demand is demand that is known to exist but unable to be accommodated on current supply of pitches. This could be in the form of a team with access to a pitch for matches but nowhere to train or vice versa. This could also be due to the poor quality and therefore limited capacity of pitches in the area and/or a lack of provision and ancillary facilities which meet a certain standard of play/league requirement. League secretaries may be aware of some unmet demand as they may have declined applications from teams wishing to enter their competitions due to a lack of pitch provision which in turn is hindering the growth of the league. Latent demand is demand that evidence suggests may be generated from the current population should they have access to more or better provision. This could include feedback from a sports club who may feel that they could set up and run an additional team if they had access to better provision. Future demand is an informed estimate made of the likely future demand for pitches in the study area. This is generally based on the most appropriate current and future population projections for the relevant age and gender groupings for each sport. Key trends, local objectives and targets and consultation also inform this figure. Casual use or other use could take place on natural grass pitches or AGPs and include:

Regular play from non-sports club sources (e.g. companies, schools, fitness classes) Infrequent informal/friendly matches Informal training sessions More casual forms of a particular sport organised by sports clubs or other parties Significant public use and informal play, particularly where pitches are located in

parks/recreation grounds. Carrying capacity is the amount of play a site can regularly accommodate (in the relevant comparable unit) for community use without adversely affecting its quality and use. This is typically outlined by the NGB Overplay is when a pitch is used over the amount that the carrying capacity will allow, (i.e. more than the site can accommodate). Pitches have a limit of how much play they can accommodate over a certain period of time before their quality, and in turn their use, is adversely affected. Spare capacity is the amount of additional play that a pitch could potentially accommodate in additional to current activity. There may be reasons why this potential to accommodate additional play should not automatically be regarded as actual spare capacity, for example, a site may be managed to regularly operate slightly below its carrying capacity to ensure that it can cater for a number of friendly matches and training activity. This needs to be investigated before the capacity is deemed actual spare capacity.



Match equivalent sessions is an appropriate comparable unit for pitch usage. For football, Rugby union and rugby league, pitches should relate to a typical week within the season and one match = one match equivalent session if it occurs every week or 0.5 match equivalent sessions if it occurs every other week (i.e. reflecting home and away fixtures). For cricket pitches, it is appropriate to look at the number of match equivalent sessions over the course of a season and one match = one match equivalent session.

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